


Chaos for the Fly

by MelodicSunshine



Category: Addams Family - All Media Types, The Addams Family (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Murder, Bisexual Female Character, Consensual Underage Sex, Dubious Consent, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Forbidden Love, Grooming, Hurt No Comfort, I'm just really shit at slowburn, Jealousy, Lesbian Sex, Married Couple, Married Sex, Murder, Nicknames, Overprotective, Polyamory, Praise Kink, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Stockholm Syndrome, There is smut in this I promise, Trauma, Underage Kissing, Underage Sex, Underage Smoking, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:13:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26709574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodicSunshine/pseuds/MelodicSunshine
Summary: Uncle Tully promised her that she'd only be there for a month or two. She wouldn't have to stay there for long.But it's been months, and she hasn't made any progress. Why couldn't she leave already?And why didn't she want to leave?
Relationships: Gomez Addams/Morticia Addams, Gomez Addams/Morticia Addams/Original Female Character(s), Gomez Addams/Original Female Character(s), Morticia Addams/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 47





	1. Spotting the Web

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! A couple things before reading this just so you understand.  
> 1\. This is my first Addams Family fic, and it's mostly based off of the 1990s movies.  
> 2\. This takes place a month after the events of the first movie.  
> 3\. In this story, Tully didn't die at the end of the movie, he managed to dig his way out of the grave.  
> 4\. I don't condone anything that happens in this story, this is moreso me experimenting.  
> Please enjoy.

“Gah, I was so close!” Tully paced around his office, looking at the floor. “If we coulda just found a way to open the vault in time, we coulda been livin’ the good life!” Not only could his frustrations be seen through his body language, but around the room as well. Papers littered the floor and an overturned chair or two could be seen. 

“Just be lucky you got out of that alive.” A voice closeby replied. Tully turned to see his niece picking a chair up to sit in. “You could’ve died, you know.” 

“Ohhhh, you’re right, Catherine.” He responded sarcastically. “I mean sure, I’m broke, my wife left me for a ball of hair, I’ve got no money to my name, and I had to crawl out of an open grave, but THANK GOD I’M ALIVE!”

“Uncle Tully, please. I’m still glad you’re here.” Catherine said with a frown. Tully stopped pacing to look at her.

“You’re right, peanut.” He sighed, walking over to her to ruffle her hair. “There’s gotta be some way to get to those Addamses, and their money. I found the vault, but that thing wouldn’t open for anythin’. I’m tellin’ ya, Cat, it’s hopeless.”

“Maybe try having someone infiltrate the home?”

“You already know what happened with Fester. Apparently he went all soft on ‘em and wanted to protect ‘em. What a load of shit. I wouldn’t wanna risk finding another guy to go, only to have him join them too.” Tully pinched the bridge of his nose in thought. “We’ve gotta get someone we can trust. Someone who won’t fall for their ‘charm’ or whatever the hell’s makin ‘em stay. Someone like…” He tried coming up with anybody he could persuade into helping him. Then when he laid his eyes on his niece, an idea sparked.

“What are you looking at me for?” Catherine asked, eyeing her uncle’s mischievous grin. The realization quickly dawned on her. “Oh, no. No, no, no. I’m not going to the Addams house, no way, no how.”

“But it’s perfect!” he exclaimed, pointing at her. “This could actually work!”

“But… how?”

“Listen here, sweetpea. You know how looney those Addamses are. We can have ya stay at their place for a while, and you can gather whatever info ya need to get that vault open, and once it’s open…” He clapped his hands, rubbing them together. “All those riches are ours. You could take some loot, bit by bit. And once you’ve stuffed your pockets full of money, you can come visit me so I can take that money off of your little thievin’ hands. And we’ll take every pretty penny they own, little by little.” He laughed hard. “They won’t suspect a thing.”

“How am I supposed to get the information for the vault?”

“I’m sure you could think of somethin’. Trickery runs in your blood, it’s an Alford thing. Trust me, this’ll be a walk in the park.” Tully walked over to Catherine, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Pack your bags. We’re gonna visit the Addamses.”

“Wait, right now?” 

“Of course, the sooner the better! I’ll take ya home, you can get your things ready, and we’ll drive right there.”

“...This had better be worth it.”

“Of course. Don’t worry ‘bout a thing, Cat.”

_____________________________

The drive to the Addams family home was a short one, as Tully was practically speeding out of excitement. Once they had made it, they both stepped out of the car and walked to the front door. Before knocking, Tully looked over to Catherine.

“Just go with everything I say, and you’ll be fine.” He assured her.

“So what are you gonna tell them?”

“Easy, I’m telling ‘em that I’ll be spending my time working my ass off and I’ll need someone to watch over you for a while.”

“What?! But I’m fourteen! They won’t believe that someone that old would need someone to babysit them!”

“You really do underestimate how dumb these folks really are, huh?” He chuckled before finally knocking on the door.

“Ugh, whatever. Wait, how long am I supposed to be staying here for?”

“However long it’ll take ya to find that vault info, which’ll probably take a month or two.”

“A month or two?! Are you serious?! I can’t just stay with these creeps for a whole-” Catherine’s rant was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. They both startled as the front door opened, revealing a monstrously tall man with a half-lidded gaze. Catherine stayed still, frozen in surprise until Tully decided to speak.

“Lurch old pal!” Tully greeted with insincere friendliness. “How’s life been treatin’ ya? Say, have you gotten taller?” His questions were met with complete silence. “Well, aren’t ya gonna let us in? I got a favor to ask of Gomez.”

Lurch stood there for a moment before stepping aside, letting both of them in the house. The girl looked around in amazement; the house was enormous. Long hallways stretched out with countless rooms. The interior was covered in cobwebs in every corner, and she noticed an unlit chandelier hanging above them. She looked over to Lurch, who gestured for them to follow him. Following close behind, they both made their way to the living room, where an older man and woman were seated on a loveseat, the latter knitting while the former lit a cigar. They must have heard their footsteps, because they both turned to look at them.

The older man, who she assumed was ‘Gomez’, as her uncle mentioned, greeted Tully with a scowl. “Tully.” He spat. “What business do you have here?” Gomez stood up and walked towards him, staring daggers into Tully.

“G-Gomez, I have a favor to ask of you.” He stammered, clearly losing his composure and confidence by the second.

“If it involves money, you can forget it. It isn’t even next quarter yet.”

“No, no. It isn’t that. Listen, can we let bygones be bygones? I need you to help me with something.”

“Whatever could that be?” This time the woman spoke up, looking away from her knitting to give the visitors a questioning glance. 

“Fine, I’ll humor you.” Gomez responded, gesturing to the couch opposite his seat in the living room. Nervously, they both shuffled over to the couch, taking a seat. Tully was the first to speak up.

“You see after… well, our situation, I’ve been up to my neck in work. I’ve been taking extra jobs to get some extra money for my family, but that comes with a price. Ya see, I need someone to watch over my niece while I’m out working.” He explained, taking Catherine’s hand. “Catherine doesn’t like being at home alone, so she needs company while I’m busy.” She nodded, hoping that the couple would buy into what he was saying.

“Hmm, and how long would this be for?” Gomez asked.

“Just until I can get enough money to hire a babysitter or nanny. My wife- err, ex wife - ain’t exactly too keen on helping me with my problems.”

“Ah yes, she has been busy with Cousin Itt as of late.” The woman spoke up once more. Last I heard from Itt, he was planning to propose to surprise her. How sweet.” She said with a smile.

“Oh, Morticia. Don’t you remember when I proposed to you?” Gomez added, his voice becoming sweet and romantic. He grabbed her hand, kissing her knuckles.

“How could I not? The funeral had set just the right mood. I still dream about it to this day, mon cher.” She replied, using her free hand to cup his cheek.

“I’m so glad you do, cara mia.” They stared at each other in lovestruck silence until Tully cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, what do ya say? Will you watch Cat for me while I’m away?”

“Is there a catch?” Gomez asked.

“None at all.”

“Well, I think it’s an alright idea. Tish?”

“I don’t see anything wrong with it, darling.” The woman, who Catherine knew now was Morticia, agreed.

“Oh, that’s wonderful! Thank you so much, Addamses. You just did me a huge favor. I’ll go get Catherine’s bags from the car, then.” Tully practically ran outside to grab her bags, leaving Catherine with the odd couple.

“Oh, we simply must introduce you to the others, to have you acquainted.” Morticia exclaimed. “Children! Fester! Mama! Come down here please. Someone would like to meet you.” She called out.  
As soon as she called out, something whizzed past Catherine’s head. She jumped, and looked over to see what almost hit her. Her eyes widened as she spotted an arrow, now embedded into the wall. She looked up to where the arrow was shot, only to see a young girl, who was aiming a bow at her, a blank stare shone on her pale face. Beside her was a shorter boy who was obviously her brother, holding a quiver full of arrows.

“Wednesday, Pugsley. That’s no way to treat a guest.” Gomez scolded. “Now come downstairs and greet her properly.” The two children walked downstairs, keeping their eyes on the unfamiliar girl in their home. 

“Hello.” They both said in unison, before bolting back upstairs to do Lord knows what.

As if on cue, two other people made their way downstairs. The first one, a grotesque older woman, spoke first. “Who’s this brat?”

“Mama, this is Catherine. She’s going to be staying with us for a while, at least until her uncle can hire a nanny for her.” Morticia explained. The older man next to Mama simply stuttered and shook, trying to cover his face with his hands. “Oh, Fester, don’t be shy and say hello. You’ll be seeing her for a while.”

“H-Hello.” Fester muttered, before grabbing Mama’s hand and pulling her back upstairs with him, with much agitation from her. 

Catherine couldn’t believe what she was seeing. These Addams people… they were freaks. A bunch of loons that liked dangerous stuff. She always thought her uncle was exaggerating when he would tell her stories of the things he saw at this house. But now she knew this wasn’t an exaggeration. This was real. And she’d be living with these crazies for a while. For a long while. Just as Tully came back in with her bags and kissed her on the forehead goodbye, Gomez spoke up.

“I promise you, you’re going to love it here.”


	2. Too Much

“We can show you around the house before we let you get settled into the guest room.” Gomez offered. Catherine nodded, hoping to get through a quick tour so she could get some shuteye. “Wonderful.” He and Morticia left the living room and the girl followed close behind. They went from room to room, stopping at each one to explain what room it was and what happens in it. It was as boring as it sounded, Catherine only listened in case they uttered the word ‘vault’. The sooner she found it, the sooner she could try to open it. Ah, but she needed whatever useful information she could get so she could finally crack the code. She figured now would be the best time to ask questions and try to get something out of these weirdos.

Too bad subtlety wasn’t her strong suit.

“So… Mr. Addams.” She started. “Are you the man of the house?”

Gomez chuckled. “Well, I’d like to think I am.”

“So you’re in charge of everything?” She pressed on, trying to crack him.

“Not everything. Lurch usually handles keeping the house presentable,” He gestured to the cobweb riddled walls with chipped paint. “And Mama takes care of the cooking, Tish takes care of the garden, and-”

“You take care of the money then, right? Right?” She asked a little too excitedly, stopping in her tracks. He shared a confused look with his wife, clearly taken aback by her sudden eagerness at the mention of money. “Or is that Mrs. Addams’ job? Who takes care of the money? Oh! And where do you keep all your valuables? I might want to keep my jewelry somewhere sa-”

“Well, aren’t you a curious one?” Morticia teased. “Though it is getting rather late. We’ll show you to the guest room.”

“Oh, um. Alright.” Catherine responded, realizing she might have asked a little too much. She followed them farther down the hallway, stopping at the guest room. 

“You do know your way to the dining room from here, right?” Gomez asked.

“Yup.”

“Good. Good night, Catherine. We’ll see you at breakfast.” As they turned to walk to their room, Morticia looked over at her. 

“Oh, and if you need anything. Just shriek.” She said with a smile, before walking away, hand in hand with her husband.  
Now Catherine was left alone in the hallway. She entered the room. The small, uncomfortable looking bed was the first thing that caught her eye. The mattress didn’t even have a sheet on it. She groaned and dropped her bag onto the bed, opening it and rummaging through to find her sleep clothes. Grabbing a white nightgown, she placed it down, undressed, and changed quickly. She was already so tired and just wanted to get some sleep, shitty bed be damned. Throwing herself onto the bed, she shut her eyes. She had almost managed to drift to sleep, until she heard her door slam open. She jumped, turning to see who barged in.

The girl she met earlier, Wednesday, stood there in the doorway, an angry glare on her face. Before she could ask why she so rudely intruded, she spoke.

“Hello, Caitlyn.” She spoke monotonously.

“It’s Catherine.”

“I couldn’t care less about your name. What I want to know is why you’re in our house.” Wednesday stepped forward, causing Catherine to move further back on her bed.

“Didn’t you hear? I’m only staying here because my uncle works so much that he can’t watch over me.”

“Great, now tell me the real reason.” She moved closer.

“That is the real reason!”

“No it isn’t. Couldn’t he have sent you to another relative, someone he’s fond of? Or really anybody else that isn’t my father, the same man he tried to trick out of his money?”

“...Do you really think I’m going to do something?”

“Yes. I don’t know what, but I know you’re planning something. You may seem harmless, but you’re related to Tully. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Once you slip up, I’ll be happy to send you back to your uncle.”

“W-Whatever you say.” Catherine huffed back, trying to seem nonchalant about her questioning.

“Good night. Have terrible nightmares.” Wednesday said a final time before leaving the room. Catherine got up to close the door, only to hear her shout again from the hallway. “Oh, by the way, you never introduced yourself to Thing. He looooves guests!”  
Catherine closed the door and turned around, only to scream at the sight of a disembodied hand on her bed.

______________________________________

“Darling did you hear that?” Morticia asked, pausing from brushing her hair to listen. 

“Probably just Fester. He’s been having night terrors as of late.” Gomez responded, sitting on the edge of their bed. “Though that scream did sound a little too high pitched.”

“Oh, but what if it’s Wednesday? She could be having a nightmare!”

“Then I envy her, I haven’t had a good nightmare for a long while.”

“Dear, if you wanted to be frightened late into the night, you could’ve just asked.” She said playfully, walking over and sitting beside him. 

“You tease.” He took her hand into his and kissed it, placing small kisses up her arm.

“Gomez, something bothers me.” She admitted, causing him to stop.

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s about our guest. The suddenness of Tully’s visit made me a bit suspicious, and for him to drop off his niece for us to watch?”

“It did seem rather strange.”

“What if she could be scheming something?”

“Like what, querida?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m worried, Gomez.”

“Tish, Catherine’s only a child. Do you really think she can do that much harm?”

“Yes, actually. I mean look at our children, they’re at each other’s throats more often than not.”

“But she seems a tad different. If by the end of tomorrow you still find her suspicious, I’ll contact Tully immediately. Would that make you happy, cara mia?”

“Yes, darling. Thank you.” She placed a tender kiss on his lips. “Now, we should get some rest while it’s still noisy. Lord knows I hate quiet nights.”

They both lied down and shut their eyes, finding peaceful sleep, while Catherine spent the rest of the night keeping her eye out for that damned hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but I needed to get the ball rolling to get to the fun bits.


	3. Follow Through

Catherine picked at the food on her plate, wishing she could be anywhere else. She had barely slept a wink last night, and she could barely keep her eyes open. She tried to focus on eating, but even that was a challenge in itself. She couldn’t even tell what her breakfast was; it looked like something that would come out of a septic tank, but she took a few bites anyways. It was… passable. She was just happy she got some food, as she hadn’t eaten before she had come over here. But she wasn’t worried about her hunger right now, what she was worried about was Wednesday staring daggers into her across the table.

Everyone else ate normally, chatting amongst themselves about things Catherine couldn’t be bothered to listen to. She grew nervous under the gaze of Wednesday, but between the eyes burning into her and thought of being burnt at the stake by her, she could deal with the uneasy feeling of being watched. She had just hoped she wouldn’t be found out anytime soon. Uncle Tully had said these people were dumb, but she didn’t want to test the limits of their stupidity just yet. Right now she just needed the location of the vault, at least. But the house was huge; every hallway held a dozen more rooms that she’d find herself getting lost in. And she had learned her lesson before about subtlety. It wouldn’t be too bright to straight up ask where the money was kept. She was told they were stupid, not braindead. But maybe someone could lead her straight to it, without ever having to ask.

She looked around at everyone having breakfast, carefully deciding which person would be the best option to follow. Wednesday was out of the question, of course. And the way Pugsley bit right through his fork while chowing down gave Catherine the impression that he wouldn’t be smart enough to open the vault, let alone find it. Her best bet was following one of their parents. After all, one of them had to be in control of the money, and there was no doubt they’d have to go to it sometime. Her thought process was interrupted though, as Gomez wiped his mouth and stood up from his seat.

“Excuse my quick leaving, but I have a busy day ahead of me.” he said, leaving the dining room in a rush. Well, that was her cue. Quickly downing her food and excusing herself, she got out of her seat and went after him. Luckily, she was able to catch up with him and watch where he went. It looked like he was heading over to his study, which was perfect; there could be a document with a code or a map, or anything that could help her out. She made sure that she was hidden, not walking too close in case he turned around and spotted her. 

Her guess had been right, he entered the study before shutting the door behind him. Knowing that opening the door would simply make her presence known, she waited outside the room, hoping that he wouldn’t be in there for long. She listened intently for anything important he may say, but all she could hear was the scribble of pen on paper, and the occasional foot tapping. After waiting there for about ten minutes, she could hear him leave his desk chair. She moved away from the door just in time for him to walk out, holding a stack of papers in his hands. She grinned, thinking that maybe one of those papers held some useful information for her.

Not wanting to lose her chance now, she started following him again, her eyes not leaving the papers that he held onto. She had noticed his pace had gotten a bit quicker, so she walked a bit faster to try and keep up. She had just hoped her increased speed wouldn’t make too much noise. He turned down a hallway or two before stopping at a room she hadn’t seen before. He entered, with Catherine close behind. It was a library, dusty bookshelves filled the room with the occasional reading tables between shelves. The room reeked of old ink and paper, and she fought the urge to sneeze once or twice. Gomez stopped at a certain bookshelf, eyeing a row of seemingly ancient books before picking one out, blowing the dust off the cover. She couldn’t make out the title, since she was a bit far and her sight wasn’t the best. But she still watched as he placed the papers down on the table, opened the book, and began to read through it. He squinted a moment, before reaching into his suit pocket and taking out a pair of tiny reading glasses and putting them on. Looking at this grown man wearing tiny glasses amused Catherine, as she chuckled a bit too loudly. He looked up from his book, obviously having heard the noise, and turned towards her. Luckily, she was able to scramble behind a bookshelf before she could be noticed. Inwardly sighing, she sat there again, listening in in case he said anything. But all she heard was a sigh and humming while he continued reading. If she had known that getting any info was going to be this boring, she probably would have been more hesitant about the scheme. But again, after a long while of waiting, she heard him get up. Putting the book back, Gomez gathered the documents on the table and briskly exited the library. She went after him, hoping that she’d get something soon so that she didn’t have to follow him about all day. She noticed that his pace had gotten even faster, and she speedwalked to even out the space between them. 

This is how it went for the next hour or two. Gomez walked around the house, doing menial tasks, and leaving to another room to do another. And with each moment, Catherine just got more and more frustrated. He still held onto those papers, and she was begging for a moment where she’d be able to take a peek at them, but alas, there was no such moment. They had both crossed the threshold leading into the living room, before Gomez stopped walking. She watched, and took a few steps back. He sighed heavily.

“You’re not as inconspicuous as you think, Catherine.” His voice made her freeze in place. “It’s rude to be in one’s space.”

“Wait, how did you notice me?!” She asked. He turned a pointed finger towards his ear.

“We Addams have a keen sense of hearing, especially when the person who’s following them walks so loudly.” Catherine blushed, embarrassed that her stalking was so obvious. “Sit down please, I’d like to discuss something with you.” She nodded, taking a seat on the sofa behind her, while he sat beside her. 

“...Yes?”

“What are you playing here, girl?”  
“What?”

“You seem very off, you know. It’s normal for children to be curious, but to follow a man around all day?”

“Well, I just wanted to see what you did all day.” She tried her best to answer calmly. One misstep and she could be kicked out, with no money to bring home.

“Then why were you hiding?” He clasped his hands in his lap. “Why didn’t you think to ask me, or someone else?” Catherine couldn’t respond; she didn’t know what to answer without being suspicious. She decided the next best thing was to change the subject. She pointed to the paper stack, now resting on the coffee table.

“What are those?”

“Notes.” He said simply. “Fester had told me a bit about the Bermuda Triangle, and I was intrigued. Decided I’d read one of those books in the library and write down a few things that piqued my interest. Seems like a good spot for a family vacation.” A small smile creeped onto his face. 

Catherine smiled with him. “Oh well that’s nice. Y’know, Uncle Tully actually took me up north to-”

“This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook, little girl.” She frowned again, and this time he noticed. Sighing, he put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I don’t know why you act so strange, but I refuse to believe you have any malicious intent. I don’t know what’s going on, but make sure you don’t get yourself into trouble. Do you understand?” His tone was serious, but not threatening. Catherine simply nodded, and he stood up, grabbing the papers and making his way towards his study once more. “Good, dinner should be ready in an hour or so. Until then, you can find something to do. But please leave me to my own routine.” And with that, he left.

_____________________________________

By the time Catherine made it to the dinner table, she saw Mama carrying a pot of what she hoped was something edible. Seating herself, she noticed how everyone seemed to be present except Gomez. Figuring he was just running late with reading or something, she thought nothing of it. As she was served her food, she saw him finally enter the dining room, taking his usual seat at the table.

“Apologies, I just got back from the vault.” 

“Brother! Did you get me what I asked for?” Fester asked around mouthfuls of food.

“Of course.” Gomez responded, taking a golden pocket watch out of his back pocket and handing it to him. “Now you’ll know what time it is when you’re finished digging those tunnels out in the yard.” Fester simply laughed in excitement and continued eating.

“That reminds me, Fester,” Morticia finally spoke up. “How far did you reach with that old tunnel you were digging?”

“Oh, only about ten feet or so.”

“Shame, shame. Well, hopefully you’ll have better luck this time.”

Catherine could barely focus on the dinner conversations, as she was now silently seething with frustration. He had gone to the vault? The one moment she wasn’t there behind him he went to the vault? Her grip tightened on her spoon. She had been so close to getting the location, but she just had to be found out. She was holding back the urge to hit the table in anger, when she heard Mama speak behind her. 

“Oh Gomez, I’m sorry I didn’t serve you, since you were late. Let me-”

“Ugh, no no. I’ve got it. I’m right beside the pot anyways.” Catherine grumbled, walking over to the counter and grabbing rags to hold the pot with. She grabbed it but held it away from her face, the smell of the mystery soup was putrid, and she’d rather not vomit right into the food. But with the weight and size of the pot weakening her arms and blocking her vision, she could barely walk towards the dinner table. As such, just as she was passing it over to where Gomez was, she lost her footing and fell forward, spilling the hot contents right onto his lap. 

The room went silent as the sound of metal clanging and liquid dripping was heard. Catherine covered her mouth and gasped as she realized what happened. Gomez stood up as soon as he felt the first touch of the hot food on his legs, hissing at the sudden scalding pain. Morticia gasped and stood up from her seat to see how bad he was hurt, while everyone else simply stared at Catherine. When Gomez finally looked at her, eyebrows furrowed in anger, she took the hint and left the dining room, running straight to the guest room, and burying her face into the bed.

_____________________________________

Well, she blew it. Catherine lied in her bed, never leaving ever since what happened at dinner. It was late now, around 10PM. Everyone was probably asleep at this point. Maybe Gomez was up tending to his burns or stewing in the hatred that he had for her now. But that didn’t matter. What did matter was that she probably lost her chance of ever getting any money from these people. They’ll probably kick her out by tomorrow, and leave her with nothing. All because she was the worst thief in existence. Tully would probably give her an earful by the time she would get home. If that was the case, she wanted to get at least a good night’s sleep before she’d be kicked out come tomorrow. She changed out of her day clothes and got into her nightwear, and just as she was ready to climb back into bed, she heard a knock on her door. Groaning, she went over to open it. It must be Wednesday, here again to torment her with more threats. She remembered how despite everyone looking at her with shocked looks on their faces at dinner, Wednesday simply looked on with a smirk on her face. So when Catherine opened the door only to see Gomez standing there with his arms crossed, she was more than a little surprised.

“We need to talk.” He said sternly. She said nothing and instead let him in, taking a seat on her bed. He was quick to cut to the chase. “I can understand how I could’ve made you angry with what I said earlier, but what you did at dinner was completely unnecessary.”

“I didn’t mean to! The soup was heavy and I didn’t-”

“Accident or not, I was burned.” He sat on the bed and lifted up one of his pant legs, showing a bright red mark on his skin. “You’re lucky tough skin runs in the family. That soup was practically boiling.”

“But it was an accident!”

“Do I have to repeat myself?” He replied, gesturing again to his burn mark. “And you still haven’t apologized, and that hurts more than this. Obviously it seems like you have no manners. I’ll have no choice but to tell Tully and have him-”

“No!” Catherine was practically sweating at this point. She was so close to getting thrown out on her ass, she had to think of something. “Don’t send me back to Tully! Because… because…”

“Because?”

“Because I don’t like the way he treats me.” She said in a low voice. Vulnerability would help her, right? Even if it was fake. “Uncle Tully does really mean things to me. He hits me and doesn’t spend time with me. I can’t believe he even sent me here. I’m just happy I’ll be away from him, even if it’s for a while.” The lies continued spewing from her mouth. Tully? Hitting her? Ha! What a laugh, but this deception seemed to do the trick, as Gomez’s angry posture seemed to soften as her words hit him. 

“I see… well in that case.” He turned her head to face him. “I suppose I won’t send you back. I do believe what you did was an accident. But please, please do be more careful, Catherine.”

“I won’t, Mr. Addams.”

“Well,” he stood up. “I’ll be taking my leave then. Tomorrow I won’t be here during the day, as I have plans with a business partner of mine.” He then stepped towards the door.

“Ah, alright. Oh, wait!” 

“Yes?” He responded, hand on the doorknob.

“I really, truly am sorry. Nothing like that will happen again, I promise.” She said, managing to squeeze a few crocodile tears out.

“Apology accepted.” He said with a warm smile. He then stepped out into the hallway, but not before staring at Catherine with an unreadable face, and hastily making his way back to his room.


	4. Tending To

The next morning as Catherine woke up, she knew she couldn’t waste anymore time. If no one was going to lead her to the vault, she’d find it on her own. After changing her clothes and going to the dining room for breakfast, she ate in a rush. She barely had time to register the taste, let alone what she was even eating. But it didn’t matter; all that mattered was the money. She immediately walked out without a word, only getting a passing glance from Wednesday and a curious stare from Morticia.

It had to be somewhere, she knew it. She tried mapping out the house in her head as she walked down an unfamiliar hallway. Going from room to room, she opened every door to see if she found anything out of place, a hidden door, or something she could take notice of. All she found was room after room filled with dust and miscellaneous items. At one point she found a room with a single fish tank in the center and nothing more. Upon closer inspection, and to her dismay, it was filled with piranhas. She ran out of the room just in time for one of them to jump out of the water, snapping frantically. Taking mental note to stay away from any animals in this house, she continued on. Then an idea struck her.

The library. This was an old house; perhaps there was a book that, when pulled out, opened a secret door. She smiled thoughtfully at her genius before turning around to head towards the library. But now there was a problem: she was completely lost. She’ll admit now, she didn’t have the best internal map. She began reopening doors, perhaps one of them would help rejog her memory of where exactly she was. It didn’t. She then began walking back down the hallway, her footsteps against the creaky wooden floors being the only sound she heard. She had entertained the idea of calling for someone to find her, but with suspicions already against her, she stayed quiet. She had also pondered going into a room and staying there for the rest of the day, before a voice behind her startled her.

“Getting yourself accustomed with the house?” Catherine turned around to see Morticia, her arms crossed with a small smirk on her face. Startled, she tried answering the question, but only ended up stuttering.

“I, uh, ah.” She stammered, instead nodding her head to answer. Morticia chuckled.

“My, you’re very soft spoken.”

“Am I?” Catherine finally responded.

“Yes, I’ve noticed you haven’t spoken much ever since you arrived here. Why is that?” The girl tried thinking of an answer before Morticia spoke again. “You’re just the quiet type, then?” 

“Mhm.” She answered simply.

“Oh, that’s perfect.” She stepped closer. “You see, I’ve been needing a little help with my gardening, as my plants are afraid of loud noises, but you’re so quiet. You’d be a great help in tending to my garden.” Catherine thought for a moment, and figured refusing would make her seem suspicious. 

“Alright.” She said hesitantly. Morticia then turned around and started walking, gesturing for her to follow. She did, and soon enough they were back where she had started, and was now making their way to the conservatory. Not another word was uttered between the two, which was just as well. The less she told the woman about her, the better. After she pulled the bleeding heart facade with Mr. Addams, she didn’t want to risk feigning vulnerability again. Then she’d never be left alone to herself.

They had finally made it to the conservatory, and while Catherine didn’t expect something green and cheery, she certainly didn’t expect to see so many dead plants in one room. Looking around she could see long green vines choking the life out of smaller plants on the ground, and weeds carefully lined in rows. Flowerless stems sat in overwatered vases, and next to those were an arrangement of gardening tools and containers. 

“I can really see why you need my help…” Catherine said under her breath.

“Today, I mostly only need help with these roses.” Morticia gestured to the bright red roses piled on a garden table in the corner. “I’d have you help with the venus flytraps, but I wouldn’t want to risk you losing a finger.” A silence fell. “I’m only joking, you know.”

“Ah, yeah, haha.” At this point Catherine didn’t know what was a joke anymore. “So, you want me to put these in water then?”

The woman shook her head. “I only need you to cut the blooms.”

“Cut the… blooms?” Wordlessly, Morticia demonstrated by grabbing a pair of scissors (to which Catherine flinched from the sudden action) and proceeded to cut the flower off of the entire rose, only leaving the stem. She then placed it into a separate pile. “Oh, I see.”

The next few moments were completely silent, save for the little thumps of petals hitting the floor. Catherine snipped and clipped away, slightly disappointed that she had to cut off the most beautiful parts of the rose, but she didn’t dare oppose. At this point, silence seemed like the best option if she was going to be here for a while. If she said nothing, she would stir up no trouble. She was not here to make friends. She hummed to herself, wondering how her uncle was doing. Hopefully he was alright. After all, since she was away, he would have one less person to worry about financially, and he already had his son to feed. She made a note to herself to call him soon, maybe just to check in, even if she hadn’t found anything yet. She hadn’t noticed that she had been lost in thought until she heard Morticia humming along with her. She stopped immediately but continued cutting.

“No need to be shy. You can hum if you’d like.” The woman said with a smile. And so she continued again, humming and cutting while the other walked around the room, watering the plants that weren’t already deceased.

“You like the way this place looks?” Catherine asked, cursing herself for breaking her silence. Morticia simply nodded, walking to the table to grab a pair of shears. “I mean, if that’s what you enjoy. But honestly, this isn’t really my kinda… style, I guess?”

“Oh, then what is?”

“I guess uh, maybe something a little brighter? A little less dead?” Her answer was met with a quiet laugh.

“Death is one of the best aspects of life.”

“Maybe. But it is a little scary to think about. That’s why I wouldn’t wanna be surrounded by it all my life.”

“To each their own. Personally bright and lively things seem… exhausting.”

“Y’know, I kinda see what you mean. I can’t imagine you in a bright pink dress or nothin’, but that’s just me.” They both laughed at the ludicrous thought. 

“My, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh since you came here.” She teased. Catherine laughed again, but winced when she felt a sharp prick against her thumb. She looked down and noticed it was bleeding; it wasn’t a lot, but the sight of blood never really sat well with her. She froze in place, and was only brought back to reality when Morticia took her hand to inspect the cut closer. “You must’ve pricked yourself on those thorns. Come with me, we’ll get it patched up.” Guiding her by the wrist, she took her out of the conservatory and upstairs, going down a hallway and stopping at a room with a door that looked like it had been blown off its hinges more than once. 

She knocked before entering, with Catherine behind. The younger girl spotted Mama, hunched over a desk in what could arguably be the most unkempt room in the house. She was poring over a thick book, mumbling a few nonsense words to herself. Morticia cleared her throat to make their presence known. Mama didn’t even spare them a glance.

“What do you need?” She asked, the scratchiness in her voice giving Catherine a headache.

“Um, I’m hurt, Miss.” She said, shyly holding out her bleeding thumb. Mama turned around and looked closer at the cut, before opening one of the drawers in her desk and rummaging around. Letting out a whispered ‘aha!’, she pulled out a small roll of what looked like green medical tape. “...I actually need a bandage.”

“Psh! This is even better. Watch.” She unrolled the green tape and wrapped it around her thumb. Immediately, Catherine noticed that it stopped hurting as soon as it made contact with the cut. She looked at her hand in amazement.

“Woah! What is this stuff?”

“Call it healing tape. It’s much better than a bandage. Makes the wound heal much quicker.”

“What’s it made out of though?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t want it on you!” Mama cackled. 

“Oh, well… thanks.” She replied before walking out of the room with Morticia.

“Be more careful around plants next time, little troublemaker!” Mama called back to them. Catherine turned to Morticia.

“But how did she know that-” Morticia simply responded by pointing a finger to her temple, mouthing the word ‘psychic’ with a smile. She said not a word more.

They began walking back to the conservatory, with Catherine staring at the bandaged cut the entire time. 

“Not too familiar with getting injured, I presume?”

“Guess you could say that.”

“Does it hurt?”

“It does a little but not as much as before.” She replied before Morticia stopped walking, and turned to face her.

“Here, then.” She took Catherine’s hand and grabbed her thumb, placing a kiss on the bandage. The girl simply stood there. “Whenever Wednesday and Pugsley would get hurt, I’d always make sure to kiss it better.”

“I see, thank you.” She said sheepishly, feeling shy at the sentiment. “Umm, do you need anymore help gardening?”

“Well, I do have some moon lilies that need tending to around midnight, but Gomez or Lurch can help me with that.” She started walking back to the conservatory, but paused. “You may continue looking around the house if you’d like, but if you do get lost again, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“Ha, I’ll be fine this time.” She said back, and walked away, into another unfamiliar hallway to search around, only to find herself getting lost once more. Except this time, she found her way back on her own, using the sound of Mama’s voice calling her to dinner with the family.

_________________________ 

It was finally bedtime. Today had seemed longer to Catherine, and compared to yesterday, it was pretty good. Sure, she spent most of the day getting lost and gardening, but it was heaven compared to having to lie your way out of getting thrown on your ass. She may have been an okay liar, but damn if she didn’t crack under pressure. She had just hoped she wouldn’t have to do it again anytime soon. She sighed. At least for tomorrow, she had to take a break from searching for anything. Get acquainted with their ways of living, the people, and just overall get used to her surroundings. At least that would be stress free. She shrugged and changed out of her clothes for bed, climbing in as soon as she had her nightgown on. She didn’t want to go to sleep just yet, but she had been walking around all day, she wanted to rest.

Was Uncle Tully asleep right now? Probably. He was most likely sleeping early so that he didn’t have to eat dinner. She remembered how he would often eat maybe a meal a day, and then nap the rest of it away. It made her sad, but she didn’t dwell on it too much. Once she got the money, they’d be set for life. She had only hoped that things wouldn’t be so hard on him now that he didn’t have to worry about her. After all, he was the only family member she had left. Her parents died when she was very young, and she was tossed between her grandparents and her uncle. But then even her grandparents didn’t want anything to do with her, calling her a bad person for little things she did in her childhood. So, she lived with Tully for most of her life. Yes, she missed having actual parents, but he was damn near close to her father. She smiled, knowing how happy he’d be once this all comes together. But until then, might as well enjoy the little parts of this scheme. 

She held up her thumb, eyeing the red lipstick mark that was left on her bandage. Running her finger along it, she figured that staying here might not be so bad. Laying low is easy, and with free food and a bed, this was more than enough for her. Maybe staying here for a while wouldn’t be so bad.

Maybe she’d actually get used to the Addamses.


	5. Bury the Hatchet

The next morning Catherine had awoken on her own for once, not being startled awake by an explosion or a crash. She ate breakfast, (which was still kind of gross, but she got used to it) and mostly kept to herself, but had small talk with everyone here and there. Well, everyone except Wednesday, but that was for the best. She had gotten used to the house itself, and could make her way to certain places on her own without getting lost, though she did find herself forgetting her way sometimes. And she had finally found some entertainment for herself. Pugsley was actually a great playmate at times. When Wednesday was busy with her own activities, he would pop into the guest room to ask Catherine to play with him, whether it be crossbow training or bug eating (though she didn’t partake in the latter; Pugsley was all too eager to eat insects on his own). When Pugsley came into her room one morning and begged to stay in there to skip school, she obliged, and in turn he had snuck her an apple from school the next day, which was a welcome present, as she was becoming tired of the food she was given daily. That was a nice day.

In fact, the next couple days were enjoyable too. She had found herself smiling a bit more often, even joining in on the dinner conversations, much to Gomez and Morticia’s delight. She still did some household tasks, too, like reading off recipes to Mama when she lost her reading glasses, or helping Lurch dust the house. They were annoying sometimes, but she felt obligated to, she didn’t want to seem like a squatter. Taking a break from finding the vault seemed like a great idea now, as those last couple days were fun and kept her busy. She’d have to go back to the plan soon, but for now she’d have fun and work later. It was already close to dinner time today, and she had spent the last couple hours scouring through the books in the library, trying to find a good read. She saw a book only entitled ‘Greed’, and she made a note to read it sometime soon. For now she had grabbed a few other books to read in her room. She had passed Wednesday in the hallway while making it back to the guest room, and while nothing seemed wrong on the surface, Catherine still couldn’t help but feel weird around her.

Wednesday was the only one who was still hostile against her. Her stares at every meal gave her a sense of uneasiness. But that wasn’t what was making her feel weird. What was making her feel weird was the fact that for the last few days, her staring became less and less frequent. At first she had chalked it up to Wednesday growing fond of her, but she was still ignored by her, and even taunted on the rare chance. So she knew that something was up. But even then, Wednesday was a little younger than her, and looked like she couldn’t do that much harm, so there was really no reason to be afraid. She shrugged her shoulders and had finally made it to the room, before hearing someone call her name.

“Catherine! Tully’s calling!” Gomez yelled from the other side of the hall.

“Coming!” She quickly got off the bed and scrambled down the hall, heading straight to Gomez’s study to answer. She was quickly handed the phone, and she listened in on the other end.

“Cat!” Tully greeted on the opposite end of the line.

“Hey, Uncle Tully.” Catherine beamed. “How have you been?”

“Mm, decent. I’ve been managing fine. Only interestin’ thing that’s happened is that I almost hit some kid while driving home today.”

“Is he alright?”

“Him? What about me? I nearly broke my foot hittin’ the brakes so hard. I tell ya, kids these days don’t know how to look both ways.”

“Or maybe you don’t know how to drive.” Catherine teased.

“Haha, very funny, Peanut.” He replied sarcastically. “But anyways, besides that, nothing new has happened. What about you?”

“I’m doing… fine.” She replied, trying to figure out the best way to tell him that she’s made no progress whatsoever. “Food’s pretty crummy though, I can’t even tell what I’m eating half the time.”

“Did you really expect good food from those folks?”

“Well I didn’t expect it to be so… gross.” She admitted.

“You’re makin’ your expectations too high for these creeps.” He sighed. “And anyways, that’s not why I was asking. Plan is goin’ alright, did you find the vault yet?” Catherine tried to pick out her next words carefully. She didn’t want to seem like she was being lazy or anything, but she hated being dishonest with her family. Still, a little lie would be better than a lecture.

“Yeah, I did. But I don’t know how to open it.” She lied, scratching the back of her head nervously.

“Good girl! You’ll find out soon enough. Try to get some info from someone in the family. The adults are a good start. But anyways, sugarpea, I’ve got a few things to wrap up, so I’ll call you some other time. And hey, maybe you can even visit me sometime soon, with any money you’ve got. Sounds good?”

“Yep. Good. Great. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Catherine. Love you.”

“...Love you too.” She said quickly before hanging up the phone. She groaned. She hated having to lie to her uncle. She mentally berated herself for doing so, slapping a hand against her forehead. She left the study, once again making her way back to her room for some quiet reading time, before she was stopped once again. This time, it was Wednesday who stopped her.

“Hello.” She greeted, her tone showing disinterest at best.

“Hi?”

“I want you to accompany me out in the yard.”

“Um, why?”

“So we can play. Pugsley is currently… tied up at the moment.” She said with a smirk. Seeing her smile for the first time was nerve-wracking to Catherine, and she took a step back.

“Actually, I was planning on going to my room and reading, so-”

“Oh, but you and Wednesday never play.” A voice from behind interrupted. Morticia stood there, arms crossed. “It would be so nice for the both of you to enjoy each other’s company. An hour or two in the yard wouldn’t hurt, would it?” 

“I… guess not.” Catherine begrudgingly responded, turning to Wednesday. “Fine, let’s go.” She simply nodded and went to the front door, walking outside. “Hey, wait up!” Catherine called to her, noticing how fast Wednesday had left. She ran out the door after her, stopping when she saw her in the distance, watching a crow that pecked at a gravestone. Out of all the things in this house, the yard is what creeped her out the most. It was full of graves of past Addams family members, at least that was what she was told. Who knows who else could’ve been buried there? Shaking off how nervous this place made her, she finally caught up with Wednesday.

The sun was beginning to set now, the sky darkening with each passing moment. She had hoped that this yard had some type of lighting, as the dark made her uneasy. She didn’t have a huge fear of the dark, but she always felt unsafe once the sun went down. She had opened her mouth to ask Wednesday what they should do, but paused. She had been rude to her the moment she had arrived here, even scared her half to death on her first night. Why would she want to play with her? She tried thinking of a reason as to why she was being tolerable towards her, but her mind blanked. She would’ve asked that question too, but Wednesday suddenly spoke, causing Catherine to jump.

“You know, ravens are severely misunderstood creatures.” She said, her eyes not leaving the bird. “People make them out to be these birds of death, a bad omen.”

“But aren’t they bad luck or something?”

“If you believe that, then you’re more naive than I thought.” She snapped, side-eyeing her. “Ravens symbolise wisdom, intelligence, cunning.” 

“Like you?” Catherine complimented, hoping it would make her a little less intimidating.

“Vultures, however…” She continued, disregarding the comment. “Vultures are the birds of death. They pick off the pieces of the deceased to eat, to survive. A loss of one’s life can sustain another.” She now turned fully to face her. “Maybe the vulture uses that dead body to feed their babies. Then the death of one person can save a whole family.”

“Oh… okay.” She was now starting to become nervous. It was pitch black now, and she could barely see anything. The moonlight did not provide much light for her to see.

“Catherine,” Hearing her name come out of Wednesday’s mouth for the first time made her skin crawl. “How do you feel about death?” The question made her breath catch in her throat, and she could not answer. She stayed in place, breaking eye contact with her to glance at the moon, which was now growing dimmer from the passing clouds. She had been silent for what felt like days before Wednesday spoke up again. “Do you know what ravens   
symbolize?”

“W-what?”

“Mourning.” She said simply, before running off, farther into the graveyard. 

“Hey!” Catherine yelled, now running after her. Her shaky legs kept her from being able to catch up, but she could see her sprinting a short distance away. She was thankful that it hadn’t rained today; she didn’t want to hurt herself by slipping or sliding into a tombstone. She only ran after her for a few seconds before spotting her standing still, looking down at something. What was she staring at? Why did she start running? Why was she asking those questions earlier? What game was she playing, if any? Before she could catch up to her to find out, she found herself falling down, stepping feet first into a deep, unseen hole in the ground.

She landed with a thud, the air being knocked out of her lungs. She sat up from where she landed, and realized she had fallen deeper than she thought. Looking up, she could see that the hole she was in was very deep, maybe about ten feet. And with her short stature it seemed even deeper. She felt relieved when she saw Wednesday’s face, peering down into the hole.

“Wednesday, I’m stuck in here! Please, get some help!” Catherine yelled. Wednesday simply responded by kicking loose dirt into the hole, some of which fell directly onto Catherine’s face.

“And why should I?” She asked, a hint of snarkiness in her tone.

“I can’t get myself out… it’s too deep.”

“Oh you poor thing. You really are that stupid.” Her face had left Catherine’s view, but she heard footsteps walking away from her.

“Don’t leave me here!”

“Oh trust me, I would not want to miss a second of this.” She heard footsteps approaching the hole, as she saw Wednesday’s face once again appear above her. “I was just grabbing this.” Catherine suddenly froze up in panic as she saw her hold up a shovel, waving it playfully. With not another word, she began shovelling dirt into the hole, some of it falling on top of her.

“What are you doing?!” 

“What does it look like, ‘Cat?’ Wednesday mocked, her shovelling never ceasing.

“Please don’t do this! Please!”

“I’m only doing what’s best for my family.”

“How…” Catherine gulped. Suddenly she felt faint. “How is burying me  
best for your family?!”

“Because you’re a criminal!” Wednesday yelled out, the sudden rise in her voice startling her. “I’ve had so many suspicions about you, yet no one listens! You’re up to something. Everyone else thinks you’re harmless, but I know the truth. You’re here to take something from us. And I won’t let that happen.” She began working faster, shovelling more and more dirt into the hole. 

“Please…” Catherine said, suddenly feeling dizzy. She was scared for her life. She didn’t want to die. Her uncle had told her how it was to be buried alive, and how horrible it was getting out. There was no way she’d be able to get out of this. She began hyperventilating, adrenaline rushing through her. She rushed over to the side of the hole, attempting to climb out. But once she lifted her hands, Wednesday swung the shovel, striking her arm and causing her to cry out in pain. Now Catherine felt hopeless. As the adrenaline left her body, all that was left was panic and fear. Her breathing suddenly slowed, and she fainted, falling back onto the steadily rising dirt pile. Wednesday chuckled, relieved that this was suddenly made easier for her. She had only filled it halfway, with only a few inches of dirt covering Catherine’s unconscious body, before she heard someone calling from inside the house.

“Wednesday, Catherine! Dinner’s ready!” Mama yelled out. Wednesday looked back at the unfinished grave, and figured that she would finish the job after dinner. She put down the shovel and ran back inside. Walking into the dining room, she was greeted with the rest of the family already eating. Her mother was the first to look up from her plate. 

“Wednesday, where’s Catherine?” Morticia asked, now alerting everyone. 

“She’s still doing something out in the yard. She’ll be here soon.” She replied, taking her seat at the table. She held back her grin as she spotted the empty seat across from her.

Everyone ate silently, but before long everyone couldn’t help but notice Catherine’s absence. She’d been gone for ten minutes. This time, Gomez was the first one to speak up.

“She should be here by now… what is she doing?” 

“She might not show up for dinner tonight.” Wednesday replied, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. While that emotion is usually welcomed, it did not comfort her now.

“And why is that?” His question was only met with silence. “Wednesday, where is she?”

“...”

“Where is she?”

“She might never come to dinner ever again.”

Everyone now stood up from the table, staring at her.

“Wednesday. Where exactly is she?” Gomez asked once more, his voice deepening in concern. She had figured she had stalled enough, and told them.

“Out in the yard, though I can’t promise you’ll find her.”

Everyone clambered out of their seats, and headed straight for the front door. Looking upon the vast area of grass and graves, they called out to her. No answer. Gomez led the family search party, while Wednesday was behind the group, hoping that they would not be able to find her. She had noticed that out of everyone there, it was her mother and father that called out to Catherine with the most concern. At the very least, she had hoped that if they found her, she would already be dead. 

“The tunnel!” Fester suddenly yelled. “My last tunnel that I dug up! Maybe she fell in!” He ran ahead of everyone, stopping once he found it. He looked down and froze, looking over to the rest of the family.

“What is it?” Gomez asked.

“Someone… filled it up.” There was only a moment of silence before all heads turned to face Wednesday. She shrank under their gaze, and opened her mouth to speak.

“You…” Gomez pointed. “We’ll discuss this later.” He turned to Fester. “Brother, hand me that shovel.” Once it was in his hands, he immediately started digging, throwing dirt over his shoulder as fast as he could. He was sure to be careful digging, however, lest he strike something underneath the dirt. He only stopped when he saw the fabric of Catherine’s shirt peeking out, dropping the shovel and kneeling down, using his hands to dig her the rest of the way out. When she was completely free, he picked her up, brushing dirt off of her soiled clothes. She was still unconscious, and he laid her down on the ground carefully. 

“Is she… alright?” Pugsley asked, peeking from behind his mother.

Gomez pushed his ear up against Catherine’s chest, listening for breathing or a heartbeat. When he heard neither, he panicked. He put his hands against her chest and pushed down, while everyone else watched impatiently. He continued doing so until he paused, pinching her nose and moving down to give her mouth to mouth. He was just short of connecting their mouths before he paused, biting his lower lip in thought, before moving back up and continuing chest compressions. Before he knew it, Catherine gasped a deep breath, letting in lungfuls of air before coughing and sputtering. She sat up immediately, and was startled when everyone exclaimed their relief.

“Thank goodness, you’re alright.” Gomez sighed. He stood back up and reached out his hand to help her to her feet. Catherine didn’t utter a word, only breathed loudly once she got back up. “Are you hurt? Can you breathe fine?”

“I’m sure I’ve got something in my room that can help her breathe better... somewhere.” Mama said, running back inside to find anything that could help.

“I’d also better go fill that hole now, it’s nothing but a death trap.” Fester added, grabbing the shovel once more and starting to pile in dirt. 

“Lie down… I wanna go lie down.” Catherine finally spoke. Her hands were shaking and even though her deep breathing calmed a bit, her heart still raced and she felt dizzy.

“You can’t lie down in those clothes.” Gomez said, putting a hand on her back to make sure she stayed standing. “They’re soiled. You’ll have to clean up before you can rest.”

“But… I don’t feel well.” She whined, tears pricking her eyes. She looked up at him, hoping that he’d give in and just let her rest, but all she saw was his face deep in thought. She turned her head when someone spoke.

“It will be quick.” Morticia assured, her face showing solace. “Come with me, Catherine. I’ll make sure you’re clean and in bed as fast as possible.” She held her hand out, with an apologetic smirk on her face. Catherine complied, walking over and taking her hand, letting herself be led back inside.

Gomez stayed outside, watching as Catherine and his wife entered the house, with Fester following behind. He eyed the now filled grave for a moment, before he turned his gaze over to his daughter, the only other person who hasn’t gone inside. After raising her for so long, he could easily tell what emotion she was feeling, no matter how unreadable her face was. By the way her hands were balled at her sides and how her mouth was closed tight, he could see she was nervous. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed heavily.

“Wednesday.” He finally said. “We need to talk.”


	6. Planning to Heal

Catherine watched the floor as she walked, hand in hand with Morticia. Specks of dirt fell from her clothes, as she used her other arm to hold onto herself. Both were completely silent, the only noise being the sound of their footsteps as they made their way to the bathroom. Morticia only looked ahead, not daring to look down at Catherine, who was shaking ever so slightly with each step. She was only happy that she had gotten her breathing under control; she was afraid that Catherine would hyperventilate or even pass out before they could get there. Luckily they had made it, and they both entered the bathroom, with Morticia locking the door behind them. She sat her down on a nearby chair, and walked over to the bathtub to turn on the faucet. While the tub began to fill, she turned her attention back to Catherine, who was now completely still, only staring down. She didn’t hear a peep from her, not even her breathing.

“Hot water helps with sore muscles, you must be aching right now.” She said, trying to fill the silence. No response was heard. She sighed, sitting on the side of the tub. “The sooner you’re clean, the sooner you can go. Are you able to undress yourself?” Her question was met with a weak nod. “Alright.”

Catherine stood up, gripping the waistband of her pants. She quickly pulled them down, stepping out of them quickly. She moved her hands up, now fumbling with the buttons on her shirt. She cursed under her breath when she realized her shaking hands were making this impossible. She had managed to get one or two buttons undone, but struggled with the rest. She was so focused on the shirt that she jumped a bit when she saw Morticia approach her.

“Would you like some help?” 

“Uh… yes.” She whispered. She turned her head in embarrassment as Morticia undid the rest of the buttons, sliding the shirt off her shoulders and casually tossing it to the floor. Catherine now realized she was almost fully exposed in front of her, save for her underwear and bra. She stood there for a moment, adding embarrassment to the mixture of emotions she felt.

“Do you need help with those, too?” Morticia asked innocently.

“No! No. I’m fine.” 

“Are you feeling… uncomfortable?”

“No.” Catherine lied. The last thing she wanted was for Morticia to pity her, not only for her being so weak, but for her embarrassment at feeling exposed. She told herself that there was no reason to feel like this, they were both girls. She wouldn’t do anything. Biting her tongue, she quickly took off her remaining clothes and turned around. The tub was full by now, and she bent over to turn off the faucet. Once the water stopped, she lifted her leg, gently placing her foot in. She hissed as the touch of the hot water hit her skin, but she continued, placing her other leg in and sitting down, letting herself get used to the temperature. Her face turned beet red when she heard Morticia chuckling behind her, apparently watching her the whole time.

“Not used to the heat, I presume?” She asked, arms crossed with her head tilted, a little smirk on her lips. “You like the cold, then?”

“I guess.” She murmured. “Like cold showers better. Perks me up.”

“I see. Do you-”

“Please.” Catherine said, putting her hand up. “I don’t feel like talking.” Morticia quickly quieted, sitting down on the chair and setting her hands in her lap. It stayed like that for a bit, with Catherine awkwardly scrubbing herself clean while Morticia either watched or pretended to be enamored with the wall. Whether it was because she wanted to give her a bit of privacy, or because she, too, felt embarrassed, Catherine didn’t know. But the silence killed her, and it made things incredibly uncomfortable, though she would never admit it. She quietly hoped that Morticia would speak up soon, lest she break her own rule and talk to her, just to fill the room with something.

“I’m sorry, but I meant to ask,” Morticia finally said, causing Catherine to inwardly sigh in relief. “Do you happen to have an extra outfit to wear around the house? You need to wear something while your dirty clothes are being washed.”

“Yeah, I have a second outfit in my suitcase in my room.”

“Wonderful.” Morticia replied before it became quiet again. Catherine decided that she had enough silent tension and quickly rinsed herself off, before standing up and stepping out of the tub. The loss of warmth from the bath caused Catherine to shiver as the cold air of the room hit her skin.

“Ah, it’s cold, I’ll just…” She turned around to step back into the bathwater, but jumped when she felt something touch her back. Morticia patted her back as she wrapped the towel around her shoulders. She leaned closer towards her ear.

“You’re shivering, yet you say you prefer the cold.” She teased.

“W-Well the room is really cold! I wasn’t expecting--” Her sentence was cut off when Morticia laughed.

“No need to defend yourself, I’m only joking.” She looked down and grabbed both ends of the towel, tightening it around her. “So defensive, it’s cute in a way.” Standing straight, she turned on her heel. “I’m going to grab your nightclothes, I’ll be right back.” And with that, she left, leaving Catherine in the cold bathroom. 

Catherine clutched onto the towel around her, letting herself think for once while she could. It was so surreal to think not even an hour ago she was buried alive, left for dead by a girl who wasn’t even that much younger than her. She was lucky, in a morbid kind of way, that she had passed out while she was being buried, lest she struggled and died with the taste of dirt on her tongue. Her breathing became heavy, as she suddenly felt claustrophobic. She could feel the walls closing in, could feel the air being sucked out of the room. She began trembling again, the cold and the panic causing her to shake, even with the warm towel around her. Was Wednesday upset that she hadn’t died? Or was she elated that Catherine was alive, now tearing up and suffering from the trauma? She swallowed a lump in her throat, tears now forming in her eyes as the realization of what happened swept over her. She was nearly killed, and what was Morticia doing? Teasing her, joking around, talking as if her husband hadn’t saved a girl from suffocating to death. And not once did she ask if she was alright. She was nearly about to burst out crying, before the sound of the door opening startled her.

“You’re very jumpy.” Morticia said, handing Catherine her nightgown. “Put this on. I’ll make sure your clothes are clean by tomorrow afternoon, if not sooner.” She took it and quickly put it on, before trying to hurry out of the door. She stopped when she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist. “I’ll walk you to your room.”

The walk to the guest room was a short one. Catherine quickly opened the door and went in, muttering a soft ‘good night’ before shutting it closed, not even giving Morticia a chance to respond. She threw herself onto her bed, covering her face with her hands. She tried shutting out any thoughts she had, closing her eyes as hard as she could. She groaned, knowing full well she wouldn’t be able to get any sleep any time soon. Her patience began to wane as she heard a knock on her door.

“Catherine… may I please come in?” It was Morticia. Catherine nearly punched the mattress in frustration. Couldn’t she have a moment to herself?

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, but I wanted to talk for a moment.” Morticia shut the door behind her, walking over to the bed. 

“Alright,” Catherine replied, hoping that this would be quick so she could cry alone.

“I want you to know I’m not ignoring what happened.” She explained. “I’m only focusing on one thing at a time. I thought about it, and came to the conclusion that it would be much easier to worry about getting you clean first, and then addressing the rest afterwards.”

“The rest?”

“Please don’t make this difficult by playing ignorant.” She said bluntly. “You’re acting like you had forgotten about being in the clutches of death about an hour or two ago.”

“Why are you bringing it up?” Catherine asked, now sitting up.

“I don’t want you pretending that it never happened. That can hurt you, you know.”

“I wasn’t going to. Can we talk about this some other time?”

“I suppose. But please, first… I would like to apologize.”

“Apologize?”

“Seeing you… covered in soil and struggling to breathe. It made me feel, well, guilty.” Morticia turned, picking up a dead flower sitting in a vase on the bedside table. She turned it in her fingers. “I should have known Wednesday would do something like that. She gets very suspicious of guests.”

“You mean after my uncle…?”

“Well, she disliked guests even before that. It only worsened after Tully.” It was becoming very clear Morticia didn’t want to look her in the eye. She continued twiddling with the flower. “I was aware of this, and yet I blindly let her frighten you. I never meant for that to happen.”

“I understand.” Catherine kept her sentences short, hoping this conversation would be over soon. She felt her chest tightening, and a lump beginning to form in her throat. She did not, no, could not cry in front of her. How embarrassing would that be?

“I should’ve been more careful, watched you closer.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Oh, Catherine.” Morticia now turned to her, kneeling down a bit and cupping her cheek in her hand. “It is. I allowed her to play with you, thinking that she would have warmed up to you.” The touch made Catherine’s eyes widen, but a part of her accepted it. She was brought back to reality when she pulled her hand away. “I should’ve known she would’ve done something so dangerous, but to nearly kill you?” She turned around and began walking towards the door. “In any case, Gomez is talking to her, and I promise she won’t do anything like that again. I don’t expect you to forgive me for this, let alone Wednesday, but I just wanted to explain this to you.”

“Mrs. Addams.” Morticia turned, watching as Catherine stood up out of her bed. “I forgive you.” She lied, only saying this to make things less difficult. The last thing she wanted was people mourning her near-death experience, pitying her and coddling her like a child. She made a startled noise as she saw Morticia smile and approach her, hugging her for a brief moment before letting go.

“Thank you.” She finally left the room, uttering one last good night before shutting the door.

Catherine lied back down in bed, momentarily happy that she was alone in her room again. While the talk hadn’t been unpleasant, she found herself becoming nervous at the mention of Wednesday. Though, she didn’t expect Morticia to blame herself. And Catherine didn’t even blame her. The only one she blamed was Wednesday. So to see the woman being so sincere and apologetic was almost frightening. And the hug even more so, as she didn’t expect her to be touchy like that. But, she’ll admit, it was a bit heartwarming. However, she had enough feelings and emotions for one day, and found herself growing tired. She lied back in bed, turning on her side to finally get some sleep. She looked over, and found that Morticia had taken the dead flower with her. Catherine chuckled.

Of course she would.

____________________________________

Morticia entered her bedroom, turning to shut the door. The sound of it shutting alerted Gomez, who was sitting on the edge of their bed, resting his head in his hands. He turned to look at her.

“Is she in bed?” Gomez asked. She nodded. “Good.”

“You’re awake still.”

“As are you. How is…?”

“She’s shaken up, very perturbed.” She sat down next to him, placing a hand on his leg. “Did you talk with Wednesday?” He hummed in affirmation.

“I did. I asked her why she did it. She claimed that Catherine was planning something.”

“Do you believe her?”

“I don’t know. She hasn’t done anything harmful at all. What is there to suspect?”

“I doubt she’d have any malicious intent.”

“Whether she does or not, she was nearly killed.” Gomez stood up and started pacing around the room. “And now she’s clearly distressed. The poor girl. I wonder if she’s even asleep right now.”

“Darling, please try to calm down. With time, she will be fine.”

“And what if she isn’t?” He stopped to turn his head towards her. “What if by the time Tully takes her back, she’s still as frightened and anxious as she is now?” He sat back down on the bed and sighed, leaning his head into Morticia’s shoulder. “Mi amor, we have to figure out a way that we can make her feel safe and happy, even if it’s for a little while.”

“Do you have anything in mind?”

“No, I…” He paused before his eyes brightened, and he stood up immediately. “Wait, yes I do!” He grabbed Morticia’s hand. “Tish, what’s something that I have a lot of?”

“Devilishly good looks? Charisma? Stamina?” She said playfully, touching his face with her other hand.

“Besides that, querida.” Gomez chuckled. “Money! More importantly, money that I can spend freely! We can buy Catherine a few things that she likes, spoil her for a bit, and she’ll be happy in no time.”

“What a brilliant idea. It would be best if we started tomorrow, but what should we do for her?”

“We’ll figure it out come morning. But for now…” Gomez moved in closer. “I think I deserve a reward for being so smart.”

“Another time, mon sauvage.” She said, giving him a quick kiss. “All this stress has me exhausted.

“Very well. But one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t worry too much about Catherine, everything will be alright.” Morticia lied back in bed, and smiled.

“Alright, my love. I trust you.”


	7. To the Victor

Neither Gomez nor Morticia were surprised when Catherine hadn't gotten out of bed in time for breakfast. After all that stress, they wouldn’t be surprised if she slept the whole day. So when they saw Catherine running into the dining room, they smiled.

“Good morning, Catherine.” Gomez started.

“Morning, morning.” She replied in a huff, eyes darting across the table. “Did I miss breakfast? I didn’t notice how long I slept, and I checked the clock and it was already 1PM and I-”

“Don’t fret at all. Here.” Morticia said, pushing a bowl towards her. “We saved your breakfast. We had a feeling you would sleep in.”

Catherine barely listened before she dug in, practically inhaling her food. She only stopped to utter a short ‘thanks’ before continuing.

“Quite the appetite.” Gomez commented.

“Yep.” Catherine replied again, pushing her empty bowl away from her and grinning. “But, anyway, why were you waiting for me here? Don’t you usually have other things to do?”

“Well, I’m happy to announce that both of our schedules are clear.” He exclaimed.

“And why’s that?”

“Well, Mrs. Addams and I have decided that because of certain, uh, problems you’ve had,” He paused mid-sentence, gesturing at her. “While staying here, it would only be fair if we treated you to make up for it.”

“Uh, okay? Treat me how?” Catherine asked, suddenly nervous. She was afraid that these people would have a different kind of treat in mind. Perhaps one that involved spiders or knives or whatever this family saw as ‘treats.’

“Well, we weren’t too sure on what you’d prefer.”

“We don’t know much about what you like.” Morticia added.

“So, we’re simply going to give you whatever you ask for.” He concluded. “It could be anything, anything at all-”

“Money.”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, sorry.” Catherine apologized, holding out her hand. “May I please have some money?”

“Whatever for?”

“So I can buy things that I want!”

“But we can buy you whatever you’d want, we won’t have to give you money.”

Catherine groaned, resting her head on her hand. She figured asking for money made things too easy. Damn her luck. In any case, she decided to test the waters. “Fine. I waaaant… an emerald necklace.”

“Done.” He replied simply. “You’ll have it by tomorrow morning.”

“Wait, really?”

“Of course, Catherine.” Morticia stood up, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. “We did say we’d give you anything.”

“And it doesn’t just stop at little things like that.” Gomez chimed in. Catherine’s eyes widened, surprised that they’d call such an expensive piece of jewelry a ‘little thing.’ Then again, since they had more money than they knew what to do with, they would probably think a diamond encrusted helicopter was a small splurge. “We can also go anywhere you want.”

“Granted, it has to be places we’re allowed to visit.” The woman explained. “Our family isn’t allowed in certain areas because of… misunderstandings.” Catherine wanted to ask what she meant by that, but thought it best to stay quiet.

“Well, I don’t really want to go anywhere right now.” She replied, rubbing her arm. “I still feel sore and going out would probably make it worse.”

“Some other time then. But for now you can ask us for anything. It’s yours.”

Catherine looked up, biting her lip in thought. She first thought about asking for more valuables, but figured it would be too suspicious. She then thought about her living situation, and realized that if she was going to stay here racking up cash and expensive items, she might as well make her stay enjoyable.

“Actually. There is something I’d like.” She stood up from the table. “The guest room is fine, but I’m not as comfortable sleeping in it.”

“Is it the soft mattress? The satin sheets? Oh, goodness, I knew I should’ve told Lurch to fix the bed just right for guests.” Gomez panicked, standing up to pace around the room.

“No, no, not that.” She replied, putting her hands up. “It’s just that the room is so barren. I’d like for it to have a bit more decoration.”

“That’s simple enough. How would you like it to be decorated?”

Catherine turned to Morticia. “Actually, I’d love for my room to be decorated with pretty plants and flowers. Maybe you could help me, Mrs. Addams?”

“Of course!” Morticia responded, clasping her hands together. “I’ll just grab what I can from the conservatory, and we’ll be on our way.”

“Yeah, about that…” Catherine started. “I actually want to decorate my room with living plants. Y’know, plants with blooms and petals and stuff.”

“Oh.” She sighed, visibly disappointed. “Very well. I’ll help you.”

Catherine then turned to Gomez. “I’d also like a bookshelf for the room. It’s better than keeping a messy stack of books near my bed.”

“Yes, you have been frequenting the library a lot as of recently.” He mumbled to himself. “Alright then, it’s yours. Let’s not waste anymore time and go decorate.”

____________________________

Catherine severely underestimated how much Lurch could carry. She watched in awe as he carried basket after basket of flowers into the guest room, placing them on the floor before going to grab another from the hallway. Morticia was sitting on the bed, eyeing each basket in terribly hidden disgust. Why Catherine would want such colorful and thornless plants, she had no clue. But it was best not to complain and simply help her decorate. 

Oh, to hell with it. “Catherine, are you sure these flowers look alright to you?” She pointed a finger towards a planter of daffodils near the windowsill.

“Of course they do. They look nice. It was time for a bit of color in this house.” Catherine took a few white roses and placed them in a vase, putting them on a nearby dresser. Morticia sighed, much to Catherine’s annoyance.

“I guess it’s just me then.” She stood up and looked around the room. It was only halfway done, and already she was disappointed. There was not a speck of black to be seen, only ugly pinks and purples. “You know, I have a sister that likes flowers like these. Her name is Ophelia.” She sighed. “Such a shame she couldn’t come over to help you.”

“Why couldn’t she come?”

“She’s much too busy with her tenth wedding.”

“Tenth wedding anniversary?”

“No, her tenth wedding.” Morticia picked up a bunch of daisies, handing them to Catherine so she could place them properly. “She never was able to keep a man for long.”

“Ah.” She stepped back to admire her work. Realizing how ludicrous a tenth wedding sounded, she turned to face her. “Wait, she’s marrying for the tenth time?”

“Well, eleventh if I count the man who stood her up at the altar.”

“He got cold feet?”

“Well, of course! The wedding was in Alaska after all. By the time they freed him from that frozen lake, he could barely utter the words ‘I do.’”

“Oh, I see.” Catherine decided that unless she wanted to know about the other freaks in their family, she would keep her mouth shut. Turning her attention back to the room, she picked up a vase resting on her bedside table. “What should I put in this vase? All we have left are the flower baskets to hang on the ceiling.”

“Well, whatever’s going in that vase is going to be the first thing you wake up to. It has to be something beautiful.” Morticia pondered for a moment before snapping her fingers. “Ah, I’ve got it!” She briefly left the room, coming back with what Catherine recognized as the dead rose she took from her room last night. “I only took it to liven up my room, but I figured you’d need it more since this room seems a bit more…” She paused, looking for the words. “Unique, then I’d like.” She placed it in the vase and smiled. While Catherine would’ve liked to chastise her for putting something black and dead in an otherwise beautiful setting, she ignored it, instead pretending to not even notice it. “Do you like it?”

“...It’ll do.” was Catherine’s simple response.

“I know it doesn’t perhaps fit your theme, but I wanted to add a little piece of me to it.”

“Oh, it’s a piece, alright.”

“Well, there’s no reason to be rude about it. I’m only trying to help.” Morticia said dejectedly, taking a seat on her bed. She absentmindedly tapped her nails, looking down at the floor. Catherine could easily tell Morticia was disappointed, but she really didn’t want to make her room a gothic nightmare just to make one person happy. So, with daisies in hand, Catherine walked up to her.

“Hey, uh, Mrs. Addams! Have you ever made daisy chains before?” She placed them down beside her. “Y’know, where you braid ‘em all together so you can wear it as a bracelet or in your hair… or something.”

“Mm. Can’t say I have.” Morticia responded with slight disinterest. “I’m more focused on growing and feeding plants than playing with them.”

“Then here,” She handed her a few daisies, while keeping a few for herself. “All you have to do is braid the stems together, and then connect the ends.”

She watched as Morticia took them gently in her hands, and at first she thought she would have gotten it first try, but cringed once she saw her begin to pluck the petals off the flower, before attempting to braid them. “Like this?” She asked, an innocent tone to her voice.

“No, not like that! It’ll ruin the whole purpose of the chain if you remove the petals.” She quickly took the ruined plants out of her hand. “Watch how I do it, then.” Catherine started doing it like how she was taught, looping one stem around the other and being careful not to accidentally tear one of them. Morticia moved a bit closer to her to see, watching as smaller hands carefully braided each stem until finally, Catherine held up a finished daisy chain. “Ta-da!”

Morticia applauded politely. “Ha, never thought I’d learn something new from someone much younger than me.”

“You’d be surprised at the stuff I know.” She connected the ends together, now turning it into a crown.

“Hmm, I still think it’s a bit too bright.” She reached for the crown. “Maybe I could-”

Catherine rolled her eyes. “It’s not too bright. Look.” She kneeled on her bed, leaning towards Morticia, and carefully placed it on her head, before backing up to look at her.

Morticia scoffed. “I’ll bet I look like a fool with this on.” She started to move her hands to take it off. “Thank goodness there isn’t a mirror closeby.” Catherine quickly pushed her hands away.

“You’re so dramatic.” She leaned in closer. “I think it looks very pretty on you.”

This time, her eyes widened in surprise, and she laughed. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” She turned to grab another daisy. “If anything, it makes you look even prettier. You’re all black and gloom, but with a bit of color, it makes you look very nice.” She barely noticed her surprised gasp as she moved a bit to adjust the crown. “Now you look like a proper queen.”

The older woman smiled. “Oh, well thank you.” She looked around the room, before her eyes stopped at Catherine’s grinning face, clearly admiring her own handiwork. Looking on at her, she felt a light, bubbly feeling in her chest, and her smile grew wider.

“Woah, I’ve never seen ya smile that big!” Catherine teasingly exclaimed. “It’s nice.” Morticia opened her mouth to say a quick thanks, before she startled at the feeling of her face becoming hot, a telltale sign of blushing. 

“Thank you, again.” She goes to push her hair away from her face, before she realizes how sweaty her hands had become. What is this? Why was she suddenly becoming flustered at a few compliments? And why was she having trouble looking the girl in the eye? Her confusion was suddenly halted by the sound of something heavy scraping against the floor. Both of them turned their attention to the doorway, not surprised to see Gomez walk in, carrying armfuls of books.

“Lurch is bringing the bookshelf, right now, and-” Gomez paused when he saw his wife, a bright yellow flower crown adorning her head, and an unmistakable blush across her face. “Oh, I didn’t know Ophelia came to visit.” He joked, laughing to himself. He turned to Catherine. “Anyways, he’s bringing the bookshelf now. I took it upon myself to get a few books for you.” He dropped them onto a nearby table. “I didn’t know what genre you liked, so I got a few of each, mostly comedies, though.” He picked up a book, tapping at the hard cover. “Edgar Allen Poe’s one of my favorites. Such a comedian. A raven that taps on doors and keeps crowing the same word over and over again? Classic.”

Once Lurch had gotten the bookshelf into the room, Gomez stocked it with the books he gathered, while Morticia and Catherine hung up the last of the hanging plants. Only one was left, but the young girl was much too tired. “Mrs. Addams, could you please hammer this last hook?”

Morticia simply nodded, grabbing the hammer, and carefully positioned the hook towards the ceiling. With one swing of the hammer, she had gotten it in, but swung once more for good measure. She must have miscalculated the strength of the second swing, as a part of the ceiling chipped, causing a small piece to fall directly onto Gomez’s head.

“Ouch.” Was his only indication of being hit, before Catherine started laughing. He laughed along with her. Morticia only stood there, before chuckling to fit in with the others. “We’ll fix that later. For now,” He grabbed the final plant, and hung it on the hook. “Perfect.”

Catherine looked around, smiling to herself. “This room looks great now.” She turned to the both of them. “Thank you for helping.”

“It’s no trouble at all.” Gomez replied, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “We enjoyed helping. Don’t be afraid to ask for anything else.” Catherine noticed Morticia looking past her, trying not to make eye contact, before both of them left her room. She shrugged it off, and simply turned to look back at her new bookshelf. Randomly taking a book out and plopping herself on her bed, she continued reading for the rest of the day, smiling at the thought of future spoils.


	8. Comes the Spoils

Catherine groaned, slumping back on the living room couch. After a whole day of nonstop reading, she started to get a headache. She dropped the book she was reading and massaged her temples, shutting her eyes tight. Pugsley sat on the opposite end of the couch, packing a knapsack with a knife, a few arrows, and a matchbox. He zipped it up before slinging it over his shoulder, a wide grin on his face.

“Hey, Catherine, are you sure you don’t wanna come night-hunting?” He asked, grabbing the straps of his bag.

“I think I’ll pass.” She replied, tossing the book on the coffee table. “What are you even hunting? Most animals are asleep by this time.”

“Wednesday said she saw something big and hairy moving around near the park.” She tensed up at the mention of his sister. “She thinks it’s Wolfman. And Uncle Fester thinks it’s Mothman. We’re heading over there to find out.”

“Psh, well good luck with that.” She lied back on the couch, resting her arms behind her head. Pugsley pointed to the book she put down.

“Whatcha reading?”

“Some lame romance novel. I hate romance, but I figured I’d read it since I don’t got much else to do.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go now, Wednesday’s probably waiting for me.” He ran towards the front door before turning around. “I’ll make sure to get you a souvenir. Maybe a fang or an eye!” And with that, he ran out the door. Catherine didn’t believe in those types of creatures, but if the boy did come back with something as he had said, she wouldn’t be surprised.

“Ugh.” She continued to lay there, pinching the bridge of her nose. Almost everyone was out of the house tonight, save for Gomez and Morticia. The former stayed in his study, while the latter was in Mama’s room, looking for an ‘alchemist’s cookbook’ as she called it. So she was left to her own devices to keep herself entertained. She sighed and figured that she would simply head to bed early, before a movement from behind startled her.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you.” Morticia apologized. “What are you doing?”

“Well, I was reading,” She groaned and covered her face. “But just reading all these books has me soooooo bored!”

“What were you reading?” She asked, sitting noticeably close to her.

“Ugh, just some book called ‘Key to My Heart’ or something.” She gestured to the abandoned book on the coffee table.

“Eugh, I can see why this would bore you.” She replied, picking it up. “This romance book is much too stale for my liking and- oh?” She opened it up, causing something to fall out of the pages. “Is this the flower I gave you yesterday?” Catherine quickly sat upright on the couch, and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

“Oh, yeah! I, uh, guess I felt bad for being rude and I kept it as a bookmark.” She quickly snatched it out of her hands. “That way, I can see it more often than if it was just resting on my table.”

“Oh, how sweet.” She cooed, placing the book down. Morticia enjoyed the sentiment, as she thought that Catherine had gotten rid of it. And the girl was clearly very shy about it as well, being so nonchalant about her kindness. It was so adorable how private she made herself. She smiled, but that soon faded once she felt that feeling again, the warmth in her chest rising and her hands becoming sweaty once again. She moved a bit closer to Catherine. “It’s odd, I feel like-”

“Thank goodness, that telemarketer finally hung up.” Gomez groaned, throwing himself onto the couch, causing both of them to back up to give him some space.

“What were they selling this time?” Morticia asked.

“Some kind of bug spray. Said it killed all kinds of pests, and went on for a half hour about why I should buy it.” He spread his arms out, gesturing around the room. “Does it look like I need bug spray in this house?!” Catherine wanted to mention the spider in the corner that was currently making its way towards the fireplace, but instead listened in.

“Exactly,” Morticia replied. “Who would want to kill bugs, those gentle creatures.” She pointed a finger towards the conservatory. “After all, I’d never have food to feed my babies if they weren’t always around.” She turned to Catherine. “You’re lucky the flowers in your room don’t need to be fed.”

“I wish they would.” She whined. “That way I’d have something to do. I’m bored to death.”

“How could you be bored?” Gomez asked. “There’s plenty to do here. Fencing, knife juggling, wrestling with Kitty.”

As if on cue, a lion roared from a far room in the house, causing her to jump. “Uh, a-actually I’d prefer to do something less dangerous.”

“Then how about knitting?” Morticia recommended.

“I don’t think so. That’s too boring.” She pondered for a moment, lip upturned in thought. “Besides, I just wanna do something other than reading. Don’t you guys have TV or something?”

“Well, we do have an old television around here, and a few VHS tapes lying around.”

“Watching a few movies sounds great! Beats books any day.”

“Then it’s settled, we’ll have a movie night, tonight. I’ll go tell Lurch to fetch the television and tapes.” Morticia said before she stood up and left, leaving the other two in awkward silence.

“Ah, so,” he started. “What would you like to watch?”

“Eh, I’m not picky with movies.” She shrugged. “As long as it’s not some cheesy romance movie.”

He chuckled. “What’s the matter,” he asked teasingly. “Afraid of love?”

“Nah, nothing like that. They’re just a bit much. I mean, have you seen most romance movies?”

“Of course. I’ve probably seen more than you. They’re always the same.” He leaned back against the couch, draping himself dramatically over the armrest. “Oh, I’m just a lonely teenage girl with no friends, who’s destined to find my true love in high school.” He put a hand up to his forehead for dramatic effect, putting on the best faux-female voice he could.

Catherine giggled at the mockery. “Or those movies where the love interest does something horrible to the main girl, and she goes ‘I’ll never speak to you again!’”

“And then she speaks to him again!” They both exclaimed in unison, laughing loudly amongst themselves. They quieted down once they heard the familiar sound of heavy footsteps as Lurch walked in, television in one arm, a box of tapes in the other. “Ah, good. Let’s set the television up and then we can look through movies.”

It didn’t take long before they got the TV working. Though it did have a tremendous amount of dust, (to which Catherine had to argue with the both of them as to why she should clean it) they got it clean and working, the only thing showing on it being a static screen. After setting it on the table and pushing it closer to the couch, they opened up the box full of VHS tapes. Sifting through, Catherine found that some of the tapes either had smeared titles or no labels at all. With limited options, she picked out a few movies she recognized, along with a few titles she didn’t know, but still wanted to try out. She pulled out one more tape before closing the box, eyeing it curiously.

“Oh, I haven’t heard of this movie.” She said, eyebrow raised in confusion.

“What’s the title?” Gomez asked, tracing his finger along the screen.

“Uhh…” She took another look at the label. “The Joining of Bodies. What genre is it? Do you know?”

Catherine had never seen Morticia move so fast, as she snatched the tape away from her hands and frowned. “Oh, I see one of our movies got mixed up with these.” She looked over to her husband, a nervous smile etched on his face. “I wonder how that could have gotten there.” She said, venom in her voice.

“Uh, well, just put the rest of the movies here, Catherine.” He muttered, patting the table. She did so, and they all sat down to watch, with Catherine sitting between them. Just as Gomez was about to pop the first tape in, she stopped him.

“Wait! I feel like we’re missing something.”

“Like what?” He asked.

His question was answered when Catherine’s stomach growled. “Snacks.”

“Well, we have plenty of sweets here,” Morticia explained. “There’s that box of candied leeches in the kitchen cupboard, along with some sugar ants, if you’d like.”

She gagged at the mere suggestion. “No thanks.” Her eyes widened as an idea popped into her head. “Oh, oh! I saw a candy store on the way over to the house, it’s not too far from here. We could just have your butler pick it up and bring it.”

“Capital idea!” Gomez exclaimed.

______________________

By the time Lurch came back, everyone had their snacks. Morticia hesitantly took a bite of her black licorice, while Gomez kept the dark chocolate bar in his hand, waiting until the movie to eat. Catherine clutched onto her caramel corn and went to play it, but once again, she stopped.

“Hold on a moment!” He yelled, causing Catherine to turn around, an annoyed scowl present on her face. He sat up from the couch. “You know what pairs well with dark chocolate? Wine. I’ll grab a bottle, you can play the movie while I’m gone.”

“Fine.” Catherine said, finally playing the movie and backing up, getting cozy. She smiled when it started up, a cheesy bloody title card showed on screen before fading to black. “I hope this one’s scary. The title was a bit smudged.”

Morticia smirked. “A fan of horror?”

Catherine nodded. “I love scary movies, I always have.”

“Surprising. You struck me as the type to cower in fear over them.”

The girl pouted and turned to her. “Hey, I ain’t no baby.”

“Then let’s hope you’re telling the truth.” Morticia turned her head as a scream from the TV caught her attention. “Because all the movies you picked are horror.”

“Oh, trust me, lady. I’m not lying.” Their playful bickering ended once Gomez came back in, holding a wine bottle and some glasses. He set them down next to the TV, and began filling the glasses. When Catherine saw that he was pouring wine into three glasses, she spoke up.

“Uh, Mr. Addams, I’m not supposed to drink stuff like that. I’m too young.”

“Oh, please.” He scoffed. “You’re only eight years away from twenty one.”

“Seven, darling.” His wife corrected him. “It would be seven years away from twenty one.”

“Even closer!” He passed Morticia a glass before filling Catherine’s. “And besides, what harm can a bit of Merlot do to a girl?” He took his own glass before sitting back down, while Catherine’s eyes darted from the movie to the drink.

The next few films they watched flew by, and at first, Catherine found herself becoming annoyed. The couple wouldn’t stop talking, spouting commentary in between bites of treats and sips of wine. While watching one of her favorite slasher movies, they both kept cutting in, explaining why the killer was misunderstood, rooting for them, even laughing when a character was slaughtered on screen. She had hushed them once or twice, but nothing stopped them from chuckling at a jumpscare or yawning during a chase scene. It had gone on for so long that she grew used to it. Hell, she found herself joining in on their banter, pointing out a few scenes that looked fake, and even egging on the killer herself. By the time they finished their snacks, they were all in good spirits, giggling like old friends.

“Looks like there’s one movie left.” she said, picking up the final tape.

“Damn, hopefully this one’s good.” Gomez said, glancing to check the clock before his eyes stopped on Catherine’s glass, still full from earlier. “You know, girl, it’s rude to not drink something that’s been offered to you.” He took the tape from her hands and exchanged it for the full glass. Catherine looked at the cup with caution, as if it was filled with the strongest poison. Not wanting to disappoint anyone, she took a few sips. Gomez read the title, before he let out an excited laugh. “Oh! Aha! Carrie!” He put it in, and sat back.

“What a wonderful movie to end the night on.” Morticia said, watching his eyes light up in excitement. “Carrie is one of Gomez’s favorite movies.”

“Really?” She asked, courageously taking a big gulp, beginning to get used to the taste. “Why’s that?”

“You’ll see why. Just watch!” He patted her back, careful not to make her spill anything.

They watched the movie in silence, with barely any interruptions. It was a breath of fresh air to the girl. She continued drinking, and had enjoyed the experience, the anxiety of drinking for the first time washing away and being replaced with comfort. They were halfway through before someone spoke, causing her to roll her eyes.

“How I love this movie.” Gomez sighed, giddiness in his tone. “I enjoy slasher movies and the occasional creature feature, but I absolutely adore characters like Carrie.” He pointed at the screen. “She’s bullied by everyone in her life, and instead of sitting there and doing nothing, she massacres everyone that’s ever wronged her. Such a powerful, powerful woman.” He reached over to grab Morticia’s hand. “A powerful and dangerous woman, just like you, cara mia.”

“Oh, darling.” She said dreamily. “You always say just the right things.” The two leaned in to share a kiss, before Catherine, who was clearly a bit peeved, pushed them out of the way. She leaned towards the table to grab the wine bottle, and poured herself another glass, spilling a bit onto herself, though she barely paid it any mind. They both chuckled.

“Enjoyed your drink, I presume?” He asked teasingly.

“Mhm.” She drank much faster than she did before, nearly finishing in one gulp. 

Morticia and Gomez were far too enamored with the movie, their eyes glued to the screen for the rest of the film. They were indeed so captivated, that they barely noticed when Catherine started to slump forward on the couch, not making a sound. Morticia was the first to look at her, glancing down and seeing that her face was a drunken red. She quickly got her husband’s attention, and gestured for him to look at her. They chuckled to each other.

“Guess she couldn’t hold her liquor.” He prodded at her face, seeing if that would wake her up.

“I should’ve known she was a lightweight.”

“I never would have guessed. I could down whole bottles without so much as a hiccup, and I was half her age.” He stood up and stretched. “Well, I guess it’s time to take her to bed.” Catherine began to stir awake, eyes blinking against the light of the TV. “Ah, finally coming to. It’s time to sleep. I’ll take you.”

“Noooooooo…” She whined, squirming against the cushions. 

“No reason to fight it. Here, I’ll even carry you.” He outstretched his arms to pick her up.

“Not yet!” She groaned. A goofy smile creeped across her face as she moved away from him, climbing into Morticia’s lap and wrapping her arms around her. “Now ya can’t take me.”

Morticia’s breath caught, feeling the weight of the young girl in her lap. Her heart began to race, a surprised sound escaping her throat. She could feel her grip tighten around her, little fingers clutching at the back of her dress. She put a hand on her head, petting her hair, before Catherine was peeled off of her by her husband, who was now semi-frustrated because of her resistance. He carried her in his arms, putting a hand on her back.

“There we go. Now off to bed.” He walked off to the guest room, with a slurring Catherine in his arms, leaving Morticia alone in the living room. She ran her hands along her legs, remembering the feeling of her sitting there. She scolded herself for simply petting her head and not handing her to Gomez. Because she realized that, though it was for a brief moment, she missed how close she was to her. Aghast at how odd that was, she poured herself another drink, determined to drown these weird emotions in alcohol.

___________________

Catherine was heavier than he thought. Gomez had her slung over his shoulder, only hearing a few nonsense babbles escape her mouth. He just wanted to get her into bed as soon as possible.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have drank so much, Catherine.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t’ve offered the drink, Mr. Addams.” She snapped back, adding a mocking tone to his name.

“Hmm, a snarky drunk, aren’t you?”

She wriggled in his grasp, moving her face closer to his ear. “Hehe, maybe I am, sir.”

Suddenly, he feels unusual. Hearing her voice so close made him nearly stop in his tracks, yet he kept walking. His shoulders stiffened.

“Let’s just get you to bed, little girl.”

“Of course,” She replied sarcastically, leaning in again. “Your word is law.”

The feeling of her hot breath against his ear made the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. He tried to think of a clever comeback, but found his mind becoming foggy. He sighed in relief as he made it to the guest room, opening the door and placing her gently on her bed. She smiled at the feeling of the soft mattress, hands grasping for the covers and pulling them up to her chin. He watched, making sure she wouldn’t try to get out of bed, and found himself watching her for a while. He hadn’t noticed this before (and would never admit it now) but Catherine seemed to look very… cute as she slept.

“Are you gonna leave yet, or?” She mumbled.

“Oh! Ah, yes, well. Good night Catherine.” He sputtered quickly, moving hastily to the door.

“Nighty night, Mister.” She put her hand up and sleepily blew a kiss to him. He didn’t dare give himself time to process the affection before he made his way back to the living room, going to shut off the TV. He beamed when he found his wife asleep on the couch, far too tired to go back to bed. He’d hate to wake her up, as she looked too peaceful. Shrugging, he went to lie down next to her to sleep, but not before drinking the remainder of the wine in his glass.


	9. Preparations

If looks could kill, Catherine would have been brutally murdered and then some. Even though she wasn’t looking, she could feel Wednesday’s eyes boring into the back of her head. The knowledge that she was even watching her made her freeze like a deer in the headlights. She was only happy that her and Pugsley were leaving for school. Otherwise, she probably would have spent the day cooped up in her room, not daring to even run into her. Once she heard the front door close as they left, she let out a deep sigh.

She walked to her room to get changed, as she was going out today. Uncle Tully had called that morning, and arranged for her to come visit him at his office. While she would’ve normally loved to go see him, she was more than a bit nervous. She was empty handed, not even attempting to find the vault in the last few days. What if he got angry with her, knowing that she lied to him? She paused for a moment to check herself in the mirror, and walked out into the hallway. She grit her teeth, becoming frustrated. She had been there for more than a week, and made no progress. She had tried to get access to the vault, valuables, anything. And what did she get in return? The luxury of being coddled by everyone in this house, except for one person, the girl who wanted her dead. At this rate, she’d be dead by the time she even found something, if she found anything at all. Her walking became quicker, as she glanced at every door that passed. She’d ransack the entire goddamn house if she had to, just to find anything to bring to her uncle. She stopped when she crashed into something, and she was suddenly pushed back.

“There you are!” Gomez exclaimed, raising his arms. “I wanted to make sure you were dressed so we could leave as soon as Lurch came back with the car.”

“Yeah, well I am!” She responded through clenched teeth. “Now if you’ll excuse me-”

“What’s your hurry?” He asked her. “Lost?”

“No, just let me go.” Her tone was cold. She desperately just wanted to leave the conversation.

“Acting a bit moody, I see.” He said, not phased by her grouchiness. “Now why’s that?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Then why do you want to leave our little talk so bad?”

“None of your business.” She tried walking past him, before he grabbed a hold of her shoulder. He chuckled.

“Ohhh, I see what this is about.”

“Oh really?” She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“This is about last night.” He closed his eyes and held up both his hands. “No need to apologize. I understand that people do weird things while intoxicated. You didn’t really mean to blow me that kiss.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Catherine furrowed her brow. “I don’t remember anything past passing out on the couch during the movie. I blew you a kiss?”

“Oh- well, you see- you were, ahem.” He put a closed fist to his mouth, clearing his throat. “Never mind that. There was another reason I came to see you.” He dug through his back pocket and pulled out a small rectangular box. “You asked for this a couple days ago, and I didn’t want to disappoint you, so…” He handed it to her, and she opened it immediately.

“Oh, wow.” She opened the box and pulled out a necklace, a large emerald attached to it. “I almost forgot about this.” Her mood suddenly lifted, and she smiled. “Thank you.”

“Here,” He bent down and took the necklace from her hands. “Let me.” He unclasped the two ends, and wrapped it around her neck. While his hands fumbled to fasten it, he glanced at her for a moment. Suddenly, he became much too aware of how close his face was to hers. Once he managed to connect the ends, he quickly moved back, standing straight once more. “There.”

They stood there for a moment more before the sound of a car horn alerted both of them. “Oh! Lurch is outside.” He quickly turned on his heel and started walking towards the front door. “Well, come on then, let’s not keep Tully waiting.”

______________________________

“Cat!” Tully cried with open arms. Catherine wasted no time running in for a hug, nearly knocking the older man to the ground. “How’s it been?”

“It’s been good! I’ve been having a good time here.” She chirped, the faux-cheerfulness of her voice so apparent it bothered her.

“She certainly has.” Gomez butted in, giving Tully a cautious look. “She’s been dying to see you ever since your last call.”

“I’ll bet!” He laughed, ruffling his niece’s hair. He picked her up and sat her down on his desk, looking over his shoulder to talk to Gomez. “Hey, could you leave the room for a lil’? Family private time, you know how it is, don’t you?”

“Hmph.” He lifted his head up, walking out of the office and shutting the door rather loudly behind him. Tully shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to Catherine.

“What’s the deal with Mustache?”

“Trust me, he’s the one you should be the least worried about.”

“I’m guessing you haven’t been havin’ a good time with those looney bats?”

“Understatement of the century.” She held out her hand, looking down at her nails. “I’m just ready to get outta there.”

“In due time, Robin Hood.” He held out his hand. “Just gimme what you got for now.”

“Well, uhh…” she put her hands behind her neck, undoing the necklace and handing it to him. “This is all I could get. That family has eyes like a hawk, so I could only take so much.”

Tully looked it over, and his eyes widened. “Well I’ll be damned!” He held it up to the light. “Is this real emerald?”

She crossed her arms. “I’d doubt it’d be fake. How much do you think it sells for?”

“Cat, with a rock this big, this could go for probably a couple thousand dollars on its own!” he quickly pocketed the jewelry. “Imagine how much more you could get, this is turnin’ out so well!” He clapped his hands onto her shoulders, making her jump. “You could stay there for months rackin’ up dough.”

“Wait, hold on,” The idea of staying there for even one more month was terrible to her, and she wanted to make it known. “I can’t just stay there for months.”

“You can. What’s the harm in stayin’ for that long?”

“Those people are insane! I can maybe do a month, but I dunno about staying much longer than that.”

“And why’s that?”

She wanted to tell him. Her mouth had opened, and she just wanted to tell him everything that had happened in the past week. She wanted to talk about how awful the food was, how strange the conversations were, the seemingly never-ending gloomy weather.

How it felt to be buried alive.

And yet none of it could come out. She had snapped her lips shut, which made Tully question her further.

“Hey, you feelin’ alright? You look as pale as a ghost.”

“Fine!” She replied a bit too loudly. “I’m fine.” She tried to think about her next words carefully. If she told him what happened, he would probably take her out of that house in a heartbeat. Which was fine by her, as she couldn’t bear to spend another second in a place that made her feel like she had to constantly watch her back. Pugsley was nice enough, and she could tolerate the few interactions between their butler or even that hand. But having to live in the same house as Wednesday was a dealbreaker. But at the same time, she couldn’t tell him and give up the chance of getting themselves out of the situation they were in. Lord knows they needed the money. So, letting out a much needed sigh, she finally spoke. “Only a couple more months?”

“Yeah, trust me. It’ll go by like that.” he said with a snap. “Just try not to get on their bad side. Kiss their asses if ya have to, just don’t get ‘em mad.”

Catherine chuckled at the irony. “Okay, I won’t.”

“That’s my girl!” he exclaimed, patting her head. “Just a few more things like that necklace, and we’ll be home free.” He turned towards the door. “Hey, Gomez! You can come back in now.”

Gomez entered soon after, scowling at Tully the moment he stepped in. “Well, I hope you enjoyed the visit.” He looked over to Catherine, and his expression changed, instead giving her a wide smile. “Ready to go?”

“Yep.” She replied simply. She gave her uncle one last hug before Gomez led her out of the office. They didn’t say anything to each other until they got into the car, Gomez giving Lurch an affirmative nod to drive them home.

“How are you feeling after seeing him?”

“It was nice.” She replied, continuing to look out the window. “We didn’t talk for long, though.”

“Well, if and when you visit again, it can be a bit longer than before.” Catherine noticed his monotonous tone, and turned to him when she heard what he said.

“Wait, if I visit him again?”

“If and when, if and when.”

“What do you mean if I get to? I have to visit him.”

“I understand if you’re worried about not seeing him after this visit; I’ll at least guarantee that you’ll see him once more after this.”

“But-”

“Catherine, we can talk about this another time.” He interrupted, his tone dark and his eyes lowered. Catherine only nodded, and went back to looking out the window, albeit a bit more nervously.

Neither of them spoke another word to each other until dinner.

______________________________

After eating a meal that sat like a rock in her stomach, Catherine went to retreat to her room. Today wasn’t as eventful as she had hoped, but at least she knew Tully was doing alright. All she wanted to do now was lie down and try and plan her next moves from here on out. If she wanted to stay here for as little time as possible, she had to start pulling her own weight. She turned a corner to go to her room, relieved that no one-

“Catherine!” Morticia called from the staircase. Gritting her teeth and nearly punching the wall, she turned around and walked towards her voice.

“Yes?” She asked, her patience wavering.

“Come with me upstairs. You’re needed in the ballroom.”

“Why? I was just about to go to my room to read.”

“You can do that later, and besides, you did mention you were tired of reading, did you not?”

Damn. She had her there. “Well, yeah.”

“Well, this is something different. I’m sure you’ll like it. Follow me.” Morticia then turned and began walking up the stairs. Catherine quickly followed, soon catching up and walking side by side with her. Grabbing her hand, Morticia led her into a rather huge ballroom. Tables and chairs aligned the walls, all covered in white sheets, a layer of dust covering most of them. A chandelier was hanging above in the center, giving the room some much needed light. Catherine turned to see Gomez sitting on one of the tables with his legs crossed, a cigar between his teeth. He perked up when he saw the both of them enter.

“Ah, perfect.” He looked over to Catherine. “I was afraid you wouldn’t have come.” The girl held back a few sarcastic remarks, while her uncle’s words played in her head. ‘Kiss their asses if you have to.’ If agreeing with everything they said and doing whatever they asked of her was going to get her out of this house faster, then by God she was going to be the biggest suck-up of the century.

“Why did you call me here?” She asked, raising her voice a bit higher.

“Well, I’ll just cut to the chase then,” He clapped his hands together. “We brought you here so we could teach you how to dance.”

Catherine scoffed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. “Dancing isn’t really my thing. Why would I need to learn how to dance?”

“It’s a surprise.” Morticia responded simply.

“A surprise?”

“Yes, and it’s a good surprise, I can assure you.” He took the cigar out of his mouth and flicked it away. “But you really must learn how to dance. Do you have any experience?”

“Nope. Never had a reason to learn.”

“There doesn’t have to be a reason.” Morticia interjected. “Haven’t you ever felt the urge to move to music?”

“Well, yeah but…”

“Then you must learn how to move properly.”

Catherine sighed. “Fine, fine. What am I learning? The sprinkler? The robot?”

The couple laughed loudly, and Gomez walked over to pat a hand on her back. “No, no. You’re going to learn how to ballroom dance. Waltz, foxtrot, what have you.” He spread his arms and looked towards the ceiling. “This is a ballroom after all.”

“Actually, it was the old dungeon.” Morticia corrected. “But we found that the basement made a much better area to place our guillotine.”

“Y’know, maaaaybe I don’t gotta learn.” Catherine said, stepping backwards towards the doors. “I’m good with playing music, not moving to it.”

“You can play?”

“Yeah. I can play a bit of piano. Learned from my aunt.”

“Oh, well that’s wonderful. But we don’t need a pianist, we need a dancer.”

Catherine groaned. “Ugh, fine.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick.” Gomez assured. “Morticia and I are the best teachers you could have.” He walked to the opposite end of the room, where a record player sat on top of a small table. “Once the music starts, we’ll demonstrate, and then it’ll be your turn. Alright?” Catherine nodded, just hoping to get this over with. Once the music started, she watched as Gomez and Morticia bowed to each other. Their dance was simple, with both of them stepping and sidestepping to the slow, easy rhythm of the music. The man would pause every so often to kiss his wife’s hand, and then continue. Catherine looked on in passive disinterest. As the tempo began to quicken, so did their movements. They began twirling together, eyes locked on each other. The girl could tell they were getting into it, as they both abandoned the simplicity of their dance as Gomez dipped her suddenly, kissing her. Catherine turned her head away in annoyance. “Well, you don’t have to do that last part.” He joked, pulling Morticia back up.

“Alright. So… who am I dancing with?”

“It’ll have to be both of us.” Morticia answered. “We want you to learn how to lead,” she gestured to Gomez. “And how to follow.” She pointed to herself.

“First, how to lead. Come here.” He said, beckoning Catherine over. Once she did so, he grabbed both of her hands. “Now, for something simple like the waltz, you position your hands like this.” He set her hands on his shoulders, and his hands on her waist. Catherine thought nothing of the physical contact, yet for Gomez, he felt off. Her touch, albeit only on his shoulders, caused him to tense up, a little pang of nervousness buzzing in the back of his head. Instead of trying to focus on what he was doing, he instead fixated on how small Catherine was, and how his hands covered up a good amount of her waist. His eyes focused on her body longer, before he was snapped back to attention.

“Are we gonna start?”

“Of course.” He said, inwardly cursing himself for his wandering eyes. He shook his head, they soon began to move. They stepped together, and at first the movements were awkward, with Catherine tripping over his feet. It didn’t help that Catherine was a little less than a foot shorter than the man, but she tried her best. She was at least thankful that he was patient; he hadn’t even gotten angry over the constant foot-stepping, or the awkward repositioning of her hands. After a considerate amount of trial and error, she had gotten the hang of it. Gomez smiled when he noticed her progress, as they both stepped in time with each other. Catherine glanced over to Morticia, who was watching with a small grin on her face, applauding occasionally. The encouragement gave her a bit of confidence, and soon enough Catherine became a bit cocky.

“Let’s speed things up.” She said, and the tempo kicked up once again. She pulled away from him a bit, her feet moving a bit quicker. Without warning, she turned quickly, and Gomez spun her before continuing. He quickly caught on and matched her speed, now moving a hand to grasp hers. They began to spin together, not unlike his dance with Morticia. Catherine gave him a confident smile, which he returned. All was going well, before Gomez got ahead of himself. Nearing the end of the song, he put a hand on her back, and dipped her, much to her surprise.

He held her like that for a few moments. Their faces were incredibly close, with their noses nearly touching. Catherine laughed, clearly having fun. The sound of her laughter, mixed with the physical closeness, made his heart skip a beat. He quickly pulled her back up, slightly distraught from his sudden action. “You did very well.” He said, trying to regain his composure.

“You’re such a good dancer, Mr. Addams.” She complimented. Goosebumps quickly rose to his skin, and he walked away rather quickly.

“Uh, yes thank you. You’re a natural, Catherine.” he turned to his wife. “Tish, your turn.” Morticia noticed how off he moved, but said nothing as she walked over to the girl.

“You may be good at following, little girl.” She teased, using Gomez’s nickname for her. “But let’s see if you’re any good at leading.” The music began again, and the two began to move. It was clear that Catherine was awful at leading. She couldn’t tell whether she tripped over her or Morticia’s feet more. It was very hard to keep up, as the tempo of the song that was playing was much faster than any of the previous. Soon enough, the roles switched, with Morticia taking the lead and Catherine desperately shuffling along. The dance was void of any spins or turns, and yet she felt dizzy and exhausted. She looked over to Gomez to ask for help or advice, but he only sat there, watching with his head in his hand. She figured she had had enough, and looked up to her, panting.

“Miss, can we stop? I’m getting tired.” It was true; her feet were killing her and she needed a break.

“Very well.” The woman responded, letting go of her hand mid-step. Catherine noticed the tone in her voice seemed disappointed. She stepped back.

“I think that was enough dancing for today.” She said, stretching. “Am I free to go?”

“Yes, I think you’ve got the hang of it.” Gomez replied.

“Cool, thanks for teaching me.” She quickly turned and walked out, shutting the door behind her. 

Gomez stared at the door, even after she left. He let out a breath he didn’t know he held and turned to his wife, who was now walking to the record player.

“Tish,” He said quietly. “I think something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?” She asked, turning around.

“Catherine… when she and I danced, I felt something.” 

Morticia raised an eyebrow. “Felt what?”

“I don’t know, when I twirled her my heart beat a mile a minute, and when she smiled I found myself smiling too, and when I heard her laugh-”

“You got a fluttery feeling in your chest?” Gomez frowned, his shoulders slumping with shame.

“Are you upset with me, cara mia?”

“Of course not, mon cher.” She replied softly, running a hand across his cheek. “But let’s talk about this later.”

He put his hand atop hers. “Of course.”

Morticia then left the ballroom, leaving her husband alone with the quiet sound of the music.


	10. Preparations Pt 2

Catherine’s hand shook as she gripped the knob of the bathroom, her eyes glancing from the door to the hallway. She couldn’t ask her, could she? She probably wouldn’t mind, but at the same time, it wasn’t worth the embarrassment. In fact, maybe she didn’t need a bath today, she could do it some other time. She took a quick smell of herself and winced. 

Oh, to hell with shame. “Mrs. Addams!” She called out to the hallway. “Could you come here for a sec?” And soon enough she did, walking over to her with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Yes? What do you need?”

“I… have a favor to ask of you.” 

“Of course, what is it?”

“Can- CanyoustaywithmewhileItakeabath?” She asked rather quickly.

“Hmm? What was that?”

She sighed. “Can you stay with me while I take a bath?” She rubbed her arm, staring at the floor. “I don’t feel safe when I’m sitting in the water. After… you know,” She waved her hand, not wanting to mention Wednesday’s name. “I’ve felt weird taking baths, I feel like the water will overflow and I’ll drown.”

“Oh, dear Catherine,” Morticia cooed, cupping her cheek and rubbing it with her thumb. “That would never happen. But I will, if it makes you feel safer.” She grabbed her hand and walked into the bathroom. Catherine went to lock the door while Morticia turned the faucet on, letting the tub fill.

“Thank you.” She muttered.

“It’s no trouble at all.” She turned to face her. “Will you need help disrobing again?”

“No! No, I’m fine.” She replied frantically, quickly unbuttoning her pants to take them off. She tried to hide the discomfort she felt as she stripped off her clothes. Morticia made no comment, much to her relief, and she quickly stepped into the tub, shutting her eyes as the warm water hit her skin.

“You danced well today.” She said, trying to fill the air with conversation.

“Thank you, but I think Mr. Addams and you take the cake for best dancers.”

“What a kind thing to say.” She said with a smile. “You were trying really hard to catch up with me. I’m surprised you didn’t fall.”

Catherine scoffed, scrubbing herself. “I’m light on my feet. I never fall.”

“Ha, you seem so sure of yourself.”

“I am.”

“I see. Oh, and you mentioned you played the piano?”

“Yeah, aunty gave me a few lessons. I’m not the best, but I think I’m pretty good.”

“Did your aunt teach you everything?”

“Well, not everything. But most of what I needed to know.”

“You do seem rather street smart.” She looked at the wall. “But what about school?”

“Err, that’s a tricky subject. Could you help me out of the tub?” Morticia obliged, grabbing her hand and standing her up. “But uh, yeah, I never did well in school.”

“I’m guessing it was grades?” She asked, turning to grab a towel.

“Behavior, actually.” She gave her a mischievous grin. “I was a bit of a troublemaker back then.”

“Really? I never would have suspected.” 

“Well, yeah. Me and my friend would always get into trouble until…” She grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her. “I got kicked out.”

“And what about your friend?”

“He got to stay.”

“That seems a bit unfair, doesn’t it?”

“Yep.” She replied simply. “Oh, damn. I forgot to grab clothes.”

“Oh, I can go grab them and-”

“No, it’s fine. I can go to my room and change there.” She walked towards the door. “Thank you, again, for staying with me.”

Morticia smirked. “You’re very welcome.” Catherine bid her a quick good night before stepping out into the hallway. 

Finally, now she could change and get some sleep. Today was much more busy than she would have preferred. She only hoped that the next few days would be less frantic. She stopped at the door, yawning before reaching for the knob and opening it. Her tired smile dropped once she saw Gomez sitting on her bed, hands clasped in his lap.

“Catherine, we- oh!” Gomez quickly covered his eyes with his hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you stepped out of the shower.”

“Why are you in my room?!” Catherine yelled, her patience finally gone.

“I came to talk with you for a moment.”

“Can it wait until tomorrow?!”

“Not really…”

“Then how about until after I change?”

“Of course!” He responded, eyes still covered. “Go ahead.”

Catherine grumbled angrily as she took out her sleep clothes, slipping on the nightgown. “Okay. You can look now.”

He uncovered his eyes and sighed. “Alright. Again, sorry for intruding, but we need to talk.”

“About?” Her exhaustion added to her horrid mood.

“Well, it’s about you,” He pointed to her, and she felt uneasy. “And Tully.”

“What about uncle Tully?”

“Oh, no need to play dumb, Catherine. I’m sure you can get the gist of what I want to talk about.”

“Uh, no?” She was suddenly panicked. Did he find out about their plan? How could he?

“Your visit. It was very suspicious. What did you talk about after I left the room?”

“Uh, well, I-”

“Come now, no need to be nervous.” He patted beside his seat on her bed. “Come, sit.” Once she did, he put a hand on her shoulder. “You know I don’t particularly like Tully.” Catherine nodded. “So after you told me about those things he did to you, hitting you, belittling you… I started to dislike him more. Maybe even hate him.” Catherine sighed in relief. Thank God, he hadn’t figured out anything. “I’m more than a little suspicious of him, you understand.”

Catherine didn’t know how to respond, so she used her best tactic: lying. “Yes, I do. He did such awful things to me.”

“I know. That’s why I’ve been thinking about letting you visit him less frequently. Or not at all.”

“What? Why?!”

“Because he’s a bad person, simple as that. I feel like he’s planning something.”

“But I need to see him once in a while! How will I know how he’s doing?”

“Doesn’t he have a phone?”

“But what about seeing him in person?”

“You’ll see him in person once he takes you back, after he’s made enough money.”

“But that’s no fair!” She whined. “He’s only trying to support himself.”

“Oh really? Does supporting himself involve stealing the necklace I gave you?” Catherine put a hand to her neck, putting on a faux-shocked look. “Don’t think I didn’t notice it was gone.”

“I can’t believe he would steal from me.” Catherine hoped he was dumb enough to not see through her facade. “But… he’s family. I still wanna visit him once in a while.” Please, she thought, please just let me visit.

“Hmm, tell you what.” He stood up and turned around. “You can visit him one more time later on, and if he tries to pull anything else, you can never visit again until he takes you back. Fair, little girl?”

“Fine!” She cried, crossing her arms and pouting. Who did he think he was, forbidding her from seeing her own family?

Gomez sighed, bending down and leaning towards her. “Catherine, I’m not doing this to be mean or rude, I’m doing this because I’m worried for you.” He walked towards the door. “In fact-” He thought for a moment before he shook his head. “Good night, Catherine. Tomorrow’s a big day.” He quickly shut the door behind him, as Catherine listened to the sound of his footsteps from the hallway.

“Good night.” She whispered to no one in particular.

______________________________

“As I have said before, I’m not upset with you.”

“But… darling-” Gomez sputtered, climbing into bed. “I feel such unusual emotions when around that girl, doesn’t it make you furious?”

“Not exactly.” She admitted. “Because you don’t know what those emotions mean.”

She was lying on her side, her back facing him. He moved in closer, wrapping his arms around her. “Well, I know I’ve felt them before. It bothers me.”

Morticia leaned into the touch. “And why does it, love?”

“It feels like, feels like…” He groaned. “Why are you so unbothered by this?”

“Because I feel the same way when I’m around her.” Silence befell the bedroom.

“Oh no…”

“This doesn’t mean anything. We enjoy her company. That is the extent of it.”

“You might be right.” He placed a few kisses on her neck.

“Watch, come tomorrow, everything will be normal. Just ignore it, and it will go away.”

“And what if it doesn’t?”

Morticia let out a mocking gasp. “My dear Gomez, are you being pessimistic? I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Oh, no no. I didn’t mean to be doubtful of you, mi amor.”

“All is forgiven.” She turned over to kiss him, which he accepted desperately. “Don’t you worry. Now rest, we have to wake up early so we can get everything ready.”

“Ah, alright. Good night, Tish.”

“Good night.”

Their dreams were plagued with nerves, while Catherine slept a dreamless sleep.


End file.
